Serpentine

The **Serpentine**, also called the **snakes**, are an ancient race of cold-blooded reptilian humanoids who were once the dominant species of Ninjago in the times of the First Spinjitzu Master.

## History

### Pre-History

According to a Serpentine legend, the Serpentine were created by the First Spinjitzu Master thousands of years ago, although their true origins are ambiguous.

### First Age

In the First Age, humans and Serpentine were at peace, though it was fragile. Humans could not enter Serpentine Valley and the Serpentine could not enter the villages of humans, this was agreed on by the First Spinjitzu Master and the leader of the ancient Serpentine tribe, Mambo V.

One day, the sons of the First Spinjitzu Master entered Serpentine Valley and were captured. The young Serpentine sorceress, Aspheera agreed to free Wuand Garmadon, but only if they promised to teach her the secrets of Spinjitzu. Wu and Garmadon promised but Wu was the only one to keep his promise. After Wu taught Aspheera Spinjitzu, she tried to overthrow King Mambo V and launch an invasion. Wu and Garmadon used the Scrolls of Forbidden Spinjitzu to stop her and she was magically entombed in the pyramid.

Over the following centuries, one serpent nation disintegrated into five Serpentine tribes depending on which tribe had what ability. However, the tribes generally disliked each other and only worked together when they had the same leaders or goals.

### Serpentine War

Fearing the dawn of the Golden Master's reign was imminent, the Serpentine tried to warn the people of Ninjago, but they wouldn't listen and instead looked upon the Serpentine as enemies. The Serpentine then tried to force the people underground, but they failed, even using the young Great Devourer to scare them below the surface. After their failed attempts to protect the people, the Serpentine were seen as monsters.

The conflict between humans and Serpentine started the Serpentine War. As the war progressed and time went on, tensions between man and snake began to die down. However, seeking to spread chaos, Chen told each side that the other was going to attack, which restarted the war. Around this time, Chen united the previously warring Serpentine tribes.

The Elemental Alliance met the Serpentine in battle of the Jamanakai Village. As the Elemental Alliance began to win, the Anacondrai, led by Arcturus, appeared and began to overwhelm them.

In the battle of the Birchwood Forest, the Elemental Alliance battled the Anacondrai once more. As they began to win, one of the Elemental Alliance was hypnotized and sided with the Serpentine and the Elemental Alliance lost once more. Later, as the Elemental Alliance began to walk home from battle, defeated and discouraged, Garmadon realized that they could use the Sacred Flutes in order to defeat them, as he saw a man use one to put a small cobra in a trance. The Elemental Alliance used the flutes and drove the five Serpentine tribes into five separate tombs. As punishment for their war crimes, Wu and Garmadon had Arcturus and the other Anacondrai generals banished to the Cursed Realm.

### Entombment

During their Time in the Tomb, the Anacondrai Eventually Ate each other until only one was left.

## Ranks

### Serpentine King

The supreme leader of the Serpentine, usually a general who manages to assert their authority over the others. Long before the war, Mambo V was Serpentine King during the First Age, although he was replaced by Aspheera for a short time. After the Serpentine War and the extinction of almost all Anacondrai, the throne was left to Pythor.

### General

The leaders of each Serpentine tribe, identified by the long tail replacing their legs and their possession of their tribe's Serpentine Staff. This position is usually the highest rank of Serpentine, with the "Serpentine King" title coming into play if a general wishes to unite the tribes as one.

### Warriors

Powerful fighters in the Serpentine ranks, generally less numerous than soldiers or scouts. Often appear similar to their corresponding general, but with legs instead of tails and slight color variations (e.g. Lizaruhas green head spikes, while Acidicus has white head spikes).

### Soldier

The regular fighters of the Serpentine forces, identifiable by having less elaborate heads than warriors or generals. They usually have two large, stout fangs protruding from their mouths.

### Scout

The lowest-ranking members of the Serpentine, scouts presumably play a supporting role in combat, gathering information on targets and backing up their stronger allies in battle. They have human-like heads with distinctly reptilian features such as scales, fangs, and slit-like pupils. Most have small hoods or armor plates on the backs of their heads. All Serpentine children are in the form of scouts until they grow up and try to get a higher rank.

### Vipers

Recently-hatched Serpentine, vipers which take the form of ordinary snakes, but in a short time their tails will turn into legs and their hands will grow.

## Powers and abilities

* **Prolonged lifespan:** All Serpentine have prolonged lifespans.
* **Hypnobrai hypnosis** - The Hypnobrai can mind control others.
	+ **Fang-Kwon-Do** - The Hypnobrai can also use a hypnotizing movement that can entrance another Hypnobrai when done correctly.
* **Fangpyre bite** - The Fangpyre can bite anything and transform it into Serpentine or shape-shift others into another thing.
* **Anacondrai invisibility** - The Anacondrai can become invisible.
* **Constrictai grip** - The Constrictai has a super strength to choke their victim into death.
* **Venomari venom** - The Venomari can spray a lime-colored acid on the target's eyes to make them hallucinate their worst fears.
* **Vermillion reconstruction** - The Vermillion can rebuild themselves if they are harmed.
* **Hive Mind** - The Vermillion have a telepathic connection with each other, allowing them to send telepathic messages or orders to other Vermillion.

## Weakneness

* **Sacred Flutes:** No Serpentine can stand the sound of the Sacred Flutes, which completely control them and can be manipulated with their help.

## Characteristics

The Serpentine generally appear as scaly humanoids with snake-like heads. All the Serpentine are cold-blooded humanoids, which means they must bask in the sun to reach optimal body temperature. For this reason, their largest cities such as Ouroboros or the Serpentine valley are built in the deserts. All of them also have to shed old scales several times in their life just like normal snakes. Serpentine generals have snake-like tails replacing their legs, which appears to be a symbol of their position; as soon as a different snake takes dominance in a tribe, its legs will become a tail and the conquered Serpentine will have its tail replaced by legs, although every member in the Anacondrai Tribe has tails. It is possible that similar changes would occur if other Serpentine of different ranks fought to increase their standing in the tribe (e.g. a Scout attempting to become a Soldier-ranked Serpentine, or a Soldier attempting to become a Warrior-ranked Serpentine). It is unclear what would happen if a Serpentine General perished without being challenged by a fellow tribes mate—presumably, the next-strongest member of the tribe would become General by default.

In addition to proficiency in melee combat (both unarmed and with a variety of weapons), all of the Serpentine tribes have unique abilities: the Hypnobrai can hypnotize others into loyal servants or sleeper agents; the Fangpyre can make anything they bite slowly turn into a snake, whether human or not; the Venomari are resistant to acid and can spit hallucinatory venom; the Constrictai have powerful grips and superior burrowing abilities, and the Anacondrai are capable of turning invisible and swallowing people whole. However, all Serpentine are vulnerable to the music of the Sacred Flute, which causes them extreme discomfort and negates some of their abilities.

Members of different tribes likewise possess the ability to breed with one another, although the results of these bonds result in hybrid mutants who lack powers. Children coming from such unions are often looked down upon in Serpentine society: one of which was Clancee.

At birth, Serpentine first start off as young vipers, seemingly identical to regular snakes but presumably with the powers of their tribe. The Serpentine grow relatively fast. As they grow and mature, however, Serpentine children will eventually develop their legs, alongside the rest of their limbs. They have much longer lifespans than the average full-blooded human. They live to be more than forty years old, as Pythor, for example, lived during Serpentine War or Skales and Fangtom were friends before imprisonment.

## Culture

In the First Age, the first known time period of the Serpentine, they had a completely different culture than in the future, and although there were different abilities among the members, they all formed one nation under the King's head. They inhabited large pyramids in the Serpentine valley, which the workers kept growing. At that time, they did not use the Serpentine language as their script, but the hieroglyphs they carved into the stones. The king also had different markings than thousands of years later, as he wore a colored nemes instead of a crown and had golden balls painted under his eyes. At that time, King Mambo's ancestors had an agreement with the First Spinjitzu Master that Serpentine should not enter humans' lands and vice versa. This agreement brought a fragile peace between both nations, the people and the Serpentine. During this time, some Serpentine also learned sorcery so that they could be sorcerers in service to the King. Over the following millennia, Serpentine culture developed in a different direction but retained some of the ancestral culture features, as they built a pyramid and an entire city in the desert, and their artifacts included a golden sarcophagus.

After many millennia, they started solving their disputes and seeking entertainment in the Slither Pit, effectively gladiatorial combat where they determine superiority by one participant being more powerful and cunning than the other. Many Serpentine look down on other species, out of arrogance or anger at being sealed away by the other inhabitants of Ninjago. They are predisposed to combat and violence to achieve their goals and are not averse to using dirty tricks or superior numbers to overwhelm their enemies.

This aggressive mindset often hinders the Serpentine more than it benefits them, as fighting is prevalent among Serpentine tribes, and even among different ranks within each tribe. On the other hand, Serpentine are unwaveringly loyal to those who can conclusively demonstrate their superiority, readily following every command of such individuals—at least until their leaders show signs of weakness, incompetence, or until those leaders are overthrown by other Serpentine, and occasionally, humans.

The Serpentine also seemed to have a righteous sense of justice, being quick to act in preparation for the arrival of the Golden Master, though some of their methods were questionable. Ultimately, while meaning well, their paranoia and recklessness in trying to stop their war with the humans only helped start it, and feeling wronged and unknowing of the true situation, felt they deserved vengeance on the humans for what had happened.