Nineko is a ninja and a sorceress that was once trained by the First Spinjitzu Master. She became an anthropomorphic cat and sought immortality.
History
Background
Long ago, Nineko lived alone as an orphan and had to steal from other people. One day, she was caught stealing eggs from the First Spinjitzu Master's henhouse. Although she stole from him, the First Spinjitzu Master offered to train her.
Sometime after Nineko turned 18, the First Spinjitzu Master noticed that one of his katanas were missing and accused her of stealing it. Nineko tried to tell him that she didn't steal it, but he wouldn't listen, so she left and swore that one day she would be stronger than the First Spinjitzu Master and prove to him that he should've believed her.
At first, Nineko tried to perfect Spinjitzu on her own, but soon learned that the only way that she could be better than the First Spinjitzu Master was by becoming immortal. In her bid for immortality, Nineko studied Dark Magic and on one occasion, used her new abilities to drain the life out of the crops from Komala's village in an attempt to gain immortality. But due to the spell backfiring, Nineko instead caused the crops to turn black and die.
Because of Komala's spell, preventing a human from obtaining the Cat-Eye Jewel, Nineko used dark magic to transform herself into a cat so she could steal the jewel and its ability to grant immortality to felines. After turning into a cat, Nineko created a martial art called Catjitzu and practiced it for 10 years in an effort to surpass the First Spinjitzu Master. Prior to encountering Wu and Garmadon, Nineko was able to persuade other people to get the jewel for her, while at the same time, summoning monsters from across Ninjago to get it, but all those she sent failed because of the Order of Felis, with the monsters breaking free from Nineko's will to roam the lands.
The Curse of the Cat-Eye Jewel (flashback)
One day, near the start of Wu and Garmadon's journey, Nineko encountered the Sons of the First Spinjitzu Master traveling through a forest inhabited by one of the many monsters she had previously summoned. When the brothers were about to be eaten by the creature, Nineko stepped in and saved them, disappearing afterwards without a word. She continued to follow and observe the brothers from a distance, only revealing herself after both fell from a cliff ledge, rescuing them with her umbrella. After exchanging a few brief words, Nineko expressed a desire to leave the two up until they revealed they were the Sons of the First Spinjitzu Master. Upon hearing this, Nineko brought the pair to her home in a hidden swamp where she would relate a tale to the brothers, claiming that the warriors they had just escaped from had stolen the precious Cat-Eye Jewel from her and that she would offer to teach them the art of Catjitzu in exchange for the brothers' services in recovering the jewel for her.
After the brothers accepted Nineko's offer, she would spend many days and nights teaching the brothers to master Catjitzu, explaining that the art would be more difficult for them due to their lacking of certain physical characteristics present in felines. After the brothers succeeded in mastering the martial art, Nineko upheld a promise she had made to Wu and answered some of the questions he had about her past with the boys' father. The following morning she would send the boys off to uphold their end of the agreement and to retrieve the Cat-Eye Jewel from the top of a mountain beside the Temple of Felis.
Sometime after the boys' departure, Nineko began to meditate in her home when she was interrupted by Garmadon, who had returned alone and empty handed. Although initially disappointed with her student's failure, her interest piqued once more when Garmadon revealed that he and Wu had encountered a lone warrior not long after their departure from Nineko's home, and that the warrior's story about Nineko was the complete opposite of what she had told them. Slyly, Nineko confirmed the truth of the warrior's story, though she justified the reasoning for her past evil deeds as necessities to win the approval of the First Spinjitzu Master, whom she had come to see as a father-figure to her. Nineko then attempted to prey on Garmadon's own insecurities and desire for approval from his father, but when Garmadon resisted Nineko's efforts, she resorted to using Dark Magic to control his mind before sending him off to retrieve the Cat-Eye Jewel.
Upon arriving outside the Temple of Felis, Nineko used her sorcery to summon a massive rain storm as well as the Warriors of Felis to battle against the warriors of the Order of Felis while Garmadon raced up the mountain to claim the jewel. After a brief struggle between Wu and Garmadon for possession over the jewel, the magical gemstone managed to make its way to Nineko's paws at the edge of one of the cliffs. Nineko's triumph however, was short lived, as the spell she had casted on Garmadon remained in effect, causing him to tackle her off the cliff in an effort to obtain the jewel, much to Nineko's horror. In a desperate attempt to recover the jewel, Nineko slipped on the uneven rocks and plummeted off the cliff and into a deep ravine. Despite the long fall, Nineko seemingly survived (or lost another of her nine lives), as her body was no where to be found later on, leaving behind only her umbrella.
Appearance
At the age of 18, Nineko had long black hair with bangs and wore distinctive make-up. She wore a simple kimono with a neckline.
After being transformed into a gray cat, Nineko retained her slender human body, but her head completely transformed into a cat's head with large yellow eyes. She wore an earring in her right ear. She also kept her long black hair and mostly wore it in her tail fastened with her mallets. She wore a kimono with paws depicted on it. Sometimes, she also wore a ninja-hood as well as an another pale green kimono with a skirt with a pattern of blue fish printed on it.
Personality
Nineko was once an orphan and had to steal to make a living. When the First Spinjitzu Master took over, she was happy to have a home, but when her master accused her of stealing his katanas, she realized that he would always consider her a thief, so she left him. Gradually, she became much more bitter and longed to be even more powerful than the First Spinjitzu Master. With the help of Dark Magic, she turned into a cat just to get the Cat-Eye Jewel that would guarantee her what her former master had - immortality. Nineko tried to achieve her goal in various ways, ignoring and hurting other people. She even summoned various monsters to get the Jewel for her, but without success.
Later, she was willing to deceive Wu and Garmadon and use their naivete to steal the Jewel, but she was completely indifferent to them, and all she really cared about was achieving immortality.
Abilities
- Dark Magic: After leaving the First Spinjitzu Master, Nineko learned how to use Dark Magic.
- Transmogrification: Using Dark Magic, Nineko has permanently turned into an anthropomorphic cat.
- Summoning monsters: Using Dark Magic, Nineko can summon monsters from various parts of the island of Ninjago.
- Living hair: Using Dark Magic, Nineko can revive her hair to fulfill her tasks.
- Control over beings: Using Dark Magic, Nineko can curse anyone to accomplish her tasks, although the cursed may take precedence over the original target of her command before furthering her mistress.
- Creating the Warriors of Felis: Using Dark Magic of her umbrella, Nineko can create rain cats called the Warriors of Felis.
- Catjitzu: Using a special form of Spinjitzu, invented by herself, Nineko can walk on ropes, jump high, and jump down without any sound.
- Nine lives: After turning into a cat, Nineko gained eight extra lives.
Relationships
First Spinjitzu Master
After being taken in by the First Spinjitzu Master after being caught stealing from his henhouse, Nineko eventually grew to view and love him as a father figure. However, her opinion of him soured not long after her eighteenth birthday, when the First Spinjitzu Master wrongly accused her of stealing one of his katanas and ordered her to leave. Heartbroken, Nineko then vowed to be better, stronger, and more powerful than he would ever be, a quest that would send her down a dark path.
Wu and Garmadon
Initially, Nineko did not have much interest in the Sons of the First Spinjitzu Master, seeming rescuing them from perils out of some lingering goodness left in her heart. However, after learning that they were the Sons of the First Spinjitzu Master, her self interest and desire to find someone who could claim the Cat-Eye Jewel overruled any of her remaining positive traits, and she would go on to manipulate both brothers into serving as her pawns. Although initially fine with simple coercion and manipulation, as seen with Garmadon, Nineko was perfectly comfortable with resorting to using her dark magic as a last resort when it seemed both brothers would no longer serve her will on their own.
Allies
- Warriors of Felis
- Multiple Monsters (formerly)
Enemies
- First Spinjitzu Master (former ally)
- Sons of the First Spinjitzu Master (former allies)
- Order of Felis
Official description
A conniving sorceress whose only desire is to become immortal. To achieve her goal, Nineko needs the Cat-Eye Jewel. She believes she can get it with the help of Garmadon and Wu.
Appearances
Books
Spinjitzu Brothers
- The Curse of the Cat-Eye Jewel (flashback)
- The Chroma's Clutches (mentioned)
Etymology
"Neko" is a Japanese word that most commonly takes on the meaning of "cat", whereas "Ni", depending on the context and kanji usage, is commonly used to mean "two", or used as a particle to mean "to, torwards" etc. among other uses
Behind the scenes
- She seems to be based on Lena Dupree and Simone Lenoir from Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, two women whose true form was a humanoid cat called a werecat and whose main goal was to achieve immortality through magical practices.
Trivia
- It is unknown how old she is, but since she destroyed crops in a village when Komala was a little girl, it means that the First Spinjitzu Master trained her several decades before Wu and Garmadon's journey.
- She is similar to Aspheera, as they are both non-human sorceresses who wanted to take revenge on their teacher in some way. Both also abused Wu and Garmadon by helping them in some way and demanding a favor in return. The difference, however, is that while Aspheera required the brothers to teach her some martial art, Nineko did the opposite.
- She is the sixth villain who knows Spinjitzu. The others being Garmadon, the Overlord, Techno Wu, Doubloon and Aspheera.
Gallery
"I hope you won't," Nineko said.
References