Cole (Ninjago)

Note: This page is dedicated to the late Kirby Morrow (1973-2020), may he rest in peace.

Cole is one of the main protagonists in LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu. He is Master Wu's student, the Black Ninja, the Elemental Master of Earth, and the son of the late elemental predecessor Lilly and the Royal Blacksmith quartet member Lou. After his mother died from an unknown illness, his father sent Cole to the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts hoping to follow his footsteps. Two days later, however, Cole ran away from school and began to send letters to his father to claim that he is actually following the path of becoming a dancer. As Cole climbed the tallest mountain in Ninjago, he first met Master Wu and realize his reason why he climbed the mountain. With Kai joining the team and meeting his teammates, Wu confirmed that he is the Black Ninja of Earth. He and Kai were the leaders of the original four Ninja before Lloyd's arrival to become the Green Ninja.

Why He Rocks (Literally!)

 * 1) He is physically the strongest member out of the Ninja. He has an amazing set of six-pack muscles!
 * 2) Second to Lloyd Garmadon, he had to go through rough times ever since he was young, such as his mother's death, his transformation as a ghost, and his fall from the Destiny's Bounty.
 * 3) He is talented at rock-climbing and dancing.
 * 4) He does get a great chemistry with his teammates.
 * 5) *He is Jay's best friend and former love rival who competed against him to win Nya's heart after realizing that she is perfectly matched with Cole (according to the matchmaking console from "The Surge"). In "Versus", Cole decided to lose in the Tournament of Elements for the sake of making up with Jay and have Nya as his girlfriend again. Later, they were paired up with each other while searching for clues regarding Nadakhan's (who shape-shifted as Zane) evil presence in "Public Enemy Number One".
 * 6) *His relationship with Nya developed over time since Season 3, as she is Cole's perfect match. In "Peak-a-Boo", she comforted him after his saddening transformation as a ghost. Later, in "The Way Back", they were friends again after Nya chose Jay, and Cole respected her decision. According to Kai in "The Fall", he said that Cole loves her "like a brother".
 * 7) *He and Kai respect each other and share several things in common such as their leaderships, confidence, etc. In "Peak-a-Boo", for example, he encouraged Cole to never give up when he is the one of the original four ninja who didn't learn Airjitzu.
 * 8) *He and Zane share their serious and mature personalities. After his elimination from the Tournament of Elements, Cole is the only one who rescued him from his imprisonment at Chen's Island. Later, in "Time of Traitors", he and Jay helped Nya to get Zane online again shortly after Acronix time-punched him with the Forward Time Blade.
 * 9) *After Lloyd changed his ways from being a troublemaker to a Ninja, Cole gets along very well to him, as he, Kai, Jay, and Zane trained him to become the Green Ninja. In Season 5, he and his teammates saved Lloyd from Morro's possession. After he fell from the Destiny's Bounty, Lloyd claims that Cole was not just a friend, but a family, as stated in "The Fall".
 * 10) He is FINALLY the focus Ninja of a season called Master of the Mountain. We get to see his long-awaited character development and his saddening backstory involving his sick mother who inherited her powers to him. Before Lilly's death, he promised her to stand up against those who are cruel and unjust, which is important to the main plot of the season.
 * 11) As a ghost from "The Temple on Haunted Hill" to "Day of the Departed", he is very useful when he possessed Zane's Titan Mech to climb to the top of the Wailing Alps, unlocked the door to let his teammates escape from Nimbus in the Cloud Kingdom, and turned invisible for one of his advantages against the Sky Pirates.
 * 12) One of his best relatable traits is his obsession with food, especially cake.
 * 13) His growl while performing the "Triple Tiger Sashay" for the first time sounds very sexy.
 * 14) He has an awesome power that he unlocked in "Day of the Departed" called Earth Punch (also called RX Powers and Lava Arms). He is able to use it with a single blow on his opponent (which is similar to Saitama, the main protagonist of One Punch Man) or a lift on heavy objects.
 * 15) He is the only Ninja who watched over Master Wu (who was affected by the Reversal Time Blade that de-aged him into a baby) in Season 8. He would be a great father to his future child(ren) someday.
 * 16) Throughout the series, he conquered ALL of his fears:
 * 17) * Dragons - Befriending his Earth Dragon Rocky.
 * 18) * Snakes - Making peace with all of the Serpentine Tribes.
 * 19) * Ghosts - Accepting his transformation as a ghost.
 * 20) * Singing in public - Following Zane's plan to sing in front of the Sons of Garmadon at Laughy's Karaoke Bar. He has a great singing voice!
 * 21) The late Kirby Morrow (who voiced Miroku from Inuyasha and Teru Mikami from Death Note) did a great job voicing him.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Like the rest of the Ninja as of Season 8, he lost his abilities of using Airjitzu and summoning his Elemental Dragon, so he won't look overpowered.
 * 2) About six months after the events of Season 10, he lost his six-pack muscles because he and his friends became softer by playing too much video games and eating too much food to celebrate their victory of defeating the Oni army.
 * 3) His movie counterpart from The Lego Ninjago Movie is nearly the complete opposite of his TV counterpart.
 * 4) Even when he turned back into a human at the end of "Day of the Departed", it is remained a mystery to believe that his death is likely going to happen based on the reflection of his future self in "Grave Danger". As a ghost, however, he cannot see his future self, but he claimed that it is because of his ability to become invisible.
 * 5) While his food obsession is considered one of his best traits, he easily gets distracted with a higher extent, such as eating noodles, sushi, and cake from his suite at Chen's Island before getting one of the Jadeblades during the first round of the Tournament of Elements. Fortunately, in Season 8, he gave up on eating cake during Wu's disappearance for the sake of considering the mission to find him as a priority until Season 9.

Trivia

 * In "Double Trouble," it reveals that he loves cake.
 * His favorite color is orange, but he doesn't want to tell anyone about it.
 * He is the third Ninja to unlock his True Potential.
 * He is the only Ninja who turned into a ghost by Sensei/Master Yang until he turned back into a human again in "Day of the Departed."
 * He is the first Ninja who the focus of the TV special, Day of the Departed.
 * Season 13: Master of the Mountain is the first season that Cole is only the focus character.
 * His hobbies include drawing, cooking (despite that he is considered the "terrible chef"), rock-climbing, and dancing (sometimes, though he is skilled at it).
 * He and Jay are the only two Ninjas known to be gaming gurus.
 * Kirby Morrow confirmed that Cole is fourteen in the pilot.
 * He is very similar to Kazuto Kirigaya/Kirito from the Sword Art Online series:
 * Both share the physical appearance of having black hair and (sometimes gray) clothes.
 * They also share the same signature color (black).
 * They love to play video games, and they are very skilled at them.
 * They have black, blonde, and brown haired allies, as Cole have Nya, Zane (Seasons 1-7), Lloyd, Kai, Jay, and Vania while Kirito has Leafa, Eugeo, Alice, Silica, Lisbeth (real world), and Sinon (real world).
 * Speaking of Zane and Eugeo, they are users of an ice element and once manipulated by their respective enemies.
 * They are able to wield two swords in combat (Cole with the Blades of Deliverance and Kirito with the Elucidator and the Dark Repulser).
 * They are very powerful to defeat their enemies respectively.
 * They were once trapped in video game realities with final bosses as the main antagonists (Cole against Unagami from "Prime Empire" and Kirito against Akihiko Kayaba/Heathcliff from "Sword Art Online").
 * Their mothers died during childhood.