Slither Pit

The Slither Pit is a Serpentine event. In line with the snakes' warlike culture, the Slither Pit has two or more Serpentine fighting each other in an arena. The events are used as a means of settling disputes, determining Serpentine leadership, and general celebration or entertainment. There are no rules beyond what the ringleader decides, and many arenas have lever-activated devices that can make battles more interesting and add more possibilities and outcomes to battles.
==History==
===Rise of the Snakes===
====Home====
The first Slither Pit was seen in the Hypnobrai Tomb, when Skales dueled Slithraa for the Hypnobrai Staff and leadership of the Hypnobrai tribe. Mezmo was the ringleader for this match; during the bout, he briefly lowered a rack of weapons for the combatants to choose from and tilted the arena to shake their footing. After a fierce fight, Skales's mastery of Fang-Kwon-Do allowed him to overcome Slithraa, earning the staff and the position of Hypnobrai General.
====The Snake King====
After finding the Lost City of Ouroboros, Pythor summoned the four tribes to the city's massive Slither Pit. The Anacondrai challenged the other Serpentine Generals—Acidicus, Fangtom, Skales, and Skalidor—to a four-on-one fight, intent on forcibly uniting the Serpentine by claiming all five Serpentine Staffs.
Unbeknownst to Acidicus, Fangtom, Skalidor, and the other Serpentine, Pythor had convinced Skales to help him unite the tribes, promising to make the Hypnobrai General into his lieutenant when the job was done. To this end, Skales covertly slipped the Sacred Flute to Pythor when it seemed that the latter was being overwhelmed, and its music allowed Pythor to bring the Generals down - both Pythor and Skales stuffed cotton balls into their ears to negate the flute's effects, although Skales pretended to be affected as the rest of the Generals were. With his opponents incapacitated, Pythor easily took their staffs and declared himself the supreme ruler of the Serpentine.
Later, the Serpentine used Ouroboros's Slither Pit to pit the ninja against Samurai X, only for the latter to help them all escape. Pythor attempted to stop the mysterious samurai with the arena's traps - including a tilting floor and retractable spikes - but Samurai X used his jetpack to dodge the traps and warriors while retrieving the ninja's Golden Weapons.
====All of Nothing====
A Slither Pit was built into the underground fortress the Serpentine were using to avoid detection by the ninja. After collecting the Fangblades and capturing the ninja, Pythor wanted to return to Ouroboros immediately and awaken the Great Devourer, but the Serpentine were feeling overworked after the long hunt. At the suggestion of Skales, Pythor allowed the tribes to celebrate their imminent victory with a night of Slither Pit battles.
While the Serpentine were occupied with the fights below, the ninja attempted to escape their prison, only to be thwarted by Pythor. Soon after, Lloyd arrived to help, shortly followed by Lord Garmadon and an army of Skulkin. As a battle erupted between the snakes and the skeletons, Pythor attempted to drop the ninja into the Vat of Venom beneath the Slither Pit, only for Lloyd to free them.
===Legacy of the Green Ninja===
====Wrong Place, Wrong Time====
When the Falcon flies over Ouroboros, several Serpentine combatants fight simultaneously in the Slither Pit arena in the middle of the city.
====The Stone Army====
The Serpentine were watching a Slither Pit match in the Ouroboros arena when Lord Garmadon arrived in a Rattlecopter.
===After Legacy of the Green Ninja===
When Serpentine got out of the tomb of the Stone Army, some of them, and Mezmo, went to the surface. In the Yang Tavern, he then started the Slither Pit fights, where humans also began to fight.
===A Team Divided (non-canon)===
===Tournament of Elements===
====The Invitation====
After the ninja split up after Zane's death, Kai, as the Red Shogun, went to Yang Tavern to participate in a Slither Pit. There, he easily defeated Kruncha with the help of his Spinjitzu.
====After The Invitation====
After his defeat by Kai, Kruncha bribed his opponents to lose so he could keep his high winning score. However, he became overconfident and refused to pay his opponents, who notified the Ninjago Police as a result.https://web.archive.org/web/20151227182918/http://www.lego.com/en-us/ninjago/explore/story-6/chapter-4
===Skybound===
====Misfortune Rising====
When the ninja fugitives are laying low at Yang Tavern after being framed by Nadakhan, a Slither Pit match with the Motorcycle Mechanic is taking place.
==List of Slither Pit arenas==
===Hypnobrai Arena===
The Hypnobrai Tomb's Slither Pits were conducted in a large section of the first floor largely devoid of icicles and other obstacles. The arena was only loosely connected to the surrounding floor by unknown mechanisms, leaving a small gap around the edge. The referee observed matches from atop an icy ledge ringed by a low wall dotted with spikes, giving it the appearance of a toothy lower jaw. There were no other seats or bleachers, leaving spectators to stand around the edges of the arena. An icy archway was present on one side of the arena, acting as a formal entrance-way for combatants.
A pair of levers present on the referee's ledge activated different effects in the arena. One lever allowed for the raising and lowering of a rack of weapons suspended over the arena. The other—identified as the "Sidewinder"—caused the arena to tilt back and forth, possibly shaking the combatants' footing.
===Ouroboros Arena===
The Lost City of Ouroboros had a larger, more elaborate Slither Pit arena than the one seen in the Hypnobrai Tomb. Resembling an ancient Colosseum or a modern sports stadium, it had several gates and entrances through which spectators and combatants alike could access the arena. It also featured a number of bleachers around its edge, with enough room to seat the entire Serpentine army.
The arena floor displayed a large, slightly raised spiral made of rocks, and it was overseen by a large statue of the Great Devourer, which was thought to be imprisoned in the city. The statue had a staircase built into its back, allowing access to a platform within its mouth. Its four main fangs had holes carved into them where the Fangblades could be placed. The statue was flanked by smaller snake statues which leaked streams of venom from their mouths.
Like the Hypnobrai Tomb's arena, the Ouroboros Slither Pit had several gimmicks built-in, which could be activated with the use of levers at the foot of the Devourer's statue. One lever caused spikes to emerge from the spiral design on the arena's floor, while the other caused it to tilt from side to side.
===Fortress Arena===
When the Serpentine built an underground fortress to conceal their movements from the ninja, they built a Slither Pit arena at the very bottom. It lacked seats or even a defined referee position, with match overseers positioning themselves near the gimmick-activating lever instead. Unlike other Slither Pit arenas, it appeared to feature a speaker system, which projected the referee's voice when they spoke into a microphone. A small acid pool was present at the center of the arena, featuring a pedestal that bore a golden statuette with slots for the Fangblades.
The fortress' Slither Pit arena had a single lever. When pulled, a ring of symbols spun around the outer edge of the arena, and whichever symbol was highlighted determined the change to the arena for that match. The only one shown was the "Vat of Venom," where the arena floor retracted to expose a series of narrow walkways over a pool of acid.
===Yang Tavern Arena===
After the opening of the tomb of the Stone Army, Hypnobrai announcer Mezmo left the Serpentine village and established his own Slither Pit arena in the Yang Tavern, where in addition to Serpentine, humans or Skulkin could also fight. Slither Pit fights gradually became a tradition and made Yang Tavern famous as such. Due to a lack of referee position, they stand inside the arena to observe matches. The spectators are seated in one of the tables and can be served juice similar to the appearance of Snogfruit Punch.
==Known participants==
*Slithraa
*Skales
*Acidicus
*Skalidor
*Fangtom
*Pythor
*Samurai X
*Cole
*Jay
*Zane
*Kai
*Lizaru
*Bytar
*Lasha
*Fang-Suei
*Mezmo
*Chokun
*Spitta
*Kruncha
*Motorcycle Mechanic
*Unknown man
==Known fights==
If a winner is known, their name is written bold.
*Slithraa vs. SkalesHome
*Acidicus, Skalidor, Fangtom and Skales vs. PythorThe Snake King
*Samurai X vs. Cole, Jay, Zane and Kai
*Lizaru vs. BytarAll of Nothing
*Lasha vs. Fang-Suei
*Mezmo vs. Chokun
*Mezmo vs. SpittaWrong Place, Wrong Time
*Chokun vs. Fang-Suei
*Mezmo vs. Fang-Suei
*Lasha vs. LizaruThe Stone Army
*Kai vs. KrunchaThe Invitation
*Motorcycle Mechanic vs. an unknown manMisfortune Rising
==Appearances==
===LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinitzu===
====Season 1: Rise of the Snakes====
*2. "Home"
*6. "The Snake King"
*11. "All of Nothing"
====Season 2: Legacy of the Green Ninja====
*19. "Wrong Place, Wrong Time"
*20. "The Stone Army"
*21. "The Day Ninjago Stood Still" (TV screen)
====Season 3: Rebooted====
*27. "The Surge" (TV screen)
====Season 4: Tournament of Elements====
*35. "The Invitation"
====Season 6: Skybound====
*58. "Misfortune Rising"
====Season 12: Prime Empire====
*131. "Level Thirteen" (TV screen)
===Books===
*A Team Divided (non-canon)
==Trivia==
*The Slither Pit is inspired by ancient gladiatorial matches.
*It is unknown whether the arena for Slither Pit is located in the Serpentine village, as Serpentine changed their way of life after being locked in the tomb of the Stone Army.
==Gallery==
===Concept art===
(22)250212 18-NINJAGO-season-02.jpg|Hypnobrai Tomb Arena
(18)250212 22-NINJAGO-season-02.jpg|Ouroboros Arena
(21)250212 19-NINJAGO-season-02.jpg
Serpentine Underground Fortress (Concept Art).jpg|Fortress Arena
NINJAGO SETS Mountain of a million steps inner sanctumcopyright.jpg
===In LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinitzu===
SlitherPit.png|Slithraa awaiting Skales' entry into the Hypnobrai Tomb's Slither Pit.
Slither pit switch ep.2.png|Mezmo at the ringleader's position.
Weapon selectin ep.2.png|Slithraa armed with a shield and pickaxe in the Hypnobrai Slither Pit
Slithraa10.png|Slithraa armed with a shield and pickaxe in the Hypnobrai Slither Pit
25Skalesvictory.png|Skales' victory in the slither pit.
City ouroboros1 ep.6.png|The Slither Pit arena at Ouroboros.
The lost city ouroboros.png|The statue of the Great Devourer at the front of the Ouroboros Slither Pit arena.
185px-Saying slither pit!! ep 6.png|The bleachers of the Ouroboros Slither Pit.
185px-Four generals ep 6.png|The Serpentine Generals enter the Ouroboros Slither Pit.
185px-Samurai x ready for fight ep 6.png|The Samurai Mech enters the Ouroboros Slither Pit.
185px-Above the samurai x ep 6.png|The ninja battle the Samurai Mech in Ouroboros' Slither Pit.
Falling ep.6.png|The Ouroboros Slither Pit arena, with spikes and tilting features deployed.
MoS19Eye.png
Slitherpit1.png|Lizaru and Bytar in combat in the Fortress Arena
Slitherpit2.png|Fangpyre and Venomari in combat in the Fortress Arena
Slitherpit5.png|Fortress Arena wheel
Slitherpit3.png|Fortress Arena "Vat of Venom"
Slitherpit4.png|Mezmo vs Chokun in combat over the "Vat of Venom"
MoS20Ouro.png|Lizaru vs. Lasha in the Ouroboros Arena
YangPits2.png|Kai vs. Kruncha in the Yang Tavern Slither Pit.
MoS58YangTavern.png|Motorcycle Mechanic in the Yang Tavern Slither Pit.
==References==
Category:2012
Category:Serpentine
Category:Rise of the Snakes
Category:2015
Category:Tournament of Elements
Category:Legacy of the Green Ninja
Category:2011
Category:Tradition
Category:2018
Category:Ninjago: Decoded
Category:2014
Category:Rebooted
Category:2020
Category:Prime Empire
Category:Competitions