Ninjargon

	"I was bitten by a snake."
	This article is about a subject that is relevant to the storyline of both the Ninjago TV series and the LEGO Movie franchise. Information may be more directed toward one continuity than the other.

“Ninja. What does that even mean in surface-dweller language?”

— Kalmaar's rhetorical question, "Master of the Sea"

Ninjargon^[1]^[2] is the main writing system used by the people of Ninjago.

Appearance

Ninjargon can be seen numerous times in the show and LEGO sets. Letters of this language are unique and not used in any real language, and there seem to be different variations, similar to how Chinese can be written in two different ways.

Originally, Ninjargon symbols resembled the visual style of Chinese characters but did not mean anything on their own. Letters from the font "Fusaka" were also used on some ninja uniforms, starting with the Elemental robes.

For The LEGO Ninjago Movie, the language was redesigned into a translatable cipher that was then used in the TV series from Sons of Garmadon onward.

Trivia

"Ninjargon" is a portmanteau of "ninja" and "jargon."
In "The Story of Kozu," Dr. Saunders referred to the language spoken in the series (understood as English to the viewers) as "Ninjago language."
ninjagolanguagetranslator.net was a free Ninjargon translator created on the occasion of the release of The LEGO Ninjago Movie, before shutting down sometime before February 2023. However, it can still be accessed using the Wayback Machine.^[3]
Latin is also an alphabet in Ninjago, as seen on Ed & Edna's Scrap N Junk sign, for example.
- Another language is used throughout the first seven seasons, where each English letter is replaced with a corresponding symbol. This can be seen, for example, on the Spell of Transformation and the cover of Cliff Gordon's Handbook to Wooing Women.
Several times in the show and LEGO sets, words are seemingly spelled incorrectly.
- An example of this is Lloyd, Cole, and Jay's Legacy 2 robes with the word "Manter" written on it.
  - This was a mistake corrected in the second wave of Legacy sets where the word is correctly spelled "Master" on Kai and Lloyd's suits.
- Another example of this is that the Skull Sorcerer has "Dead Irse" inscriptions on the body in the show, while the inscriptions in the sets are written correctly, "Dead Rise."
- Roise's shirt is misspelled as "Cat Lcdy" instead of "Cat Lady."
In Chapter 7 of the could-be-canonical novel, Way of the Departed, written by Tommy Andreasen, the language was referred to as "ninjargan."
Real Chinese characters are also often used in the show and LEGO sets.
Although Ninjargon was officially created for The LEGO Ninjago Movie, some letters have been used before, such as on Wu-Cru badges, where the letters W and U have been used. These letters therefore deliberately resemble a man with eyes and a conical hat, just like Wu.
According to Tommy Andreasen, "It’s not any particular language to avoid local network regulations which demand visual translation."^[4]
- However, the language is a simple substitution cipher for English in real life.

Gallery

Words on minifigures

Translated screenshots

Season 11: Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu

Season 12: Prime Empire

Season 15: Crystalized

Ninjago: Dragons Rising

Season 1

Season 2

References

General
Main	Ninjago (TV series) · Ninjago (sets) · Ninjago: Dragons Rising
Lists	Canon installments · Censorship · Characters · Cast and characters (Masters of Spinjitzu · Dragons Rising) · Catchphrases · Connections with other LEGO themes · Episodes (Masters of Spinjitzu · Dragons Rising) · Parts first used in Ninjago · Set-only vehicles · Reused designs (from Ninjago · from other LEGO themes) · Symbols · Unused concepts · Unseen characters · Voice errors
Galleries	Animation errors (Masters of Spinjitzu · Dragons Rising) · Cards · Character variants (Masters of Spinjitzu · Dragons Rising) · Concept art · Physical releases (TV series and movie · Video games) · Minifigures · Gifs · LEGO.com images · Promo videos · Posters (Masters of Spinjitzu · Dragons Rising)
Languages	Devonian · Ninjargon · Old Tongue · Theroxian
Other	Culture of Ninjago · Fang ranking system · Frequently Asked Questions · Hair · Influences on the franchise · LEGO.com (Museum · Virtual Tour) · Ninjago soundtrack · Opening sequence · Timeline · Types of gi (Other outfits)

[1] ttps://x.com/bragischutjr/status/1250801636974276609

[2] ttps://x.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1896679432787771511

[3] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20221116160955/http://www.ninjagolanguagetranslator.net/

[4] ttps://x.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1509568093860859919

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