Captain Soto

**Captain Soto** (大尉ソト, *Taii Soto*) is a Ninjagoan Shinigami, often described as a grim reaper of the sea for drowned sailors or shipwrecks and depicted as a 17-century Ninjagoan pirate. Soto is also connected to the legendary ghost ship; Black Bounty, which has been referenced in many late Way of the Ninja scripts by sailing munks.

## Myth

In Ninjagoan legend, Soto was the captain of the most feared ship of the Endless Sea, who died in the battle against the legendary Misfortune's Keep and was resurrected by Emperor Garmadon with the Four Golden Weapons.

### Life

During his intitial life-time, Soto was obsessed with magic and journeyed to find mythical artifacts, including the Realm Crystal, Sword of Sanctuary and the Golden Weapons, as well as hidden areas, such as the Dark Island and the Golden Peaks. Soto was captured by the crew of the Misfortune's Keep, after stealing information about the Sword of Sanctuary. Soto bargained that he would lead the way to the Realm Crystal, as he had a map of it, in exchange for his life. The Misfortune' crew accepted the deal, but on their way to the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master, Misforune' was informed of a potential betrayal. During night, the Misfortune's Keep attacked the Black Bounty, ending its terror of the sea. However, along with it. the map to the Real Crystal was lost.

### Ressurrection

A century later, Garmadon had gathered the Four Golden Weapons, granting him power of creation. Garmadon, who wanted to extend his reach, wanted a fast and powerful ship, as well as a fearsome crew, hence reconstructing the Black Bounty and its band of pirates. Soto, impressed with the Golden Weapons, attempted to gain Garmadons loyalty, by showcasing the various maps to powerful artifacts. Soon after, however, Soto and his crew realised they had been bound with the ship and was never able to set foot on land.

### Curse

Long after Garmadon's defeat against the Golden Ninja, Soto created a larger band of pirates outside of his own crew that would do his biddings on land. In attempt to end the curse, he sought after Wojira, the Dragon of the Abyss of the Endless Sea. After finally summoning the beast, Wojira was not able to lift the Golden Powers curse entirely, but instead gave Soto the option to become a Shinigami (death spirit), making him and his crew grim reapers of the sea, that would carry souls to Wojira, where every soul would be exchanged for a minute on land. Captain Soto accepted the deal, and started to hunt other ships in the ocean, as well as looking for sunken ships. On the time on land, Soto has only been looking for various artifacts, mainly the Golden Weapons, to lift his spell.

## Legacy

In Ninjago, the Captain Soto and Black Bounty stories are commonly told between sailors and captains of various vessels. To this date, missing and randomly sunken ships are often, when not blamed on westerners, explained by Soto's craving for death. Despite the fact that the Black Bounty is a 17th century *Atakebune* (Ninjagoan warship), it is still feared by Ninjago Kaigun crew members, who has far superior warships in durability and power. This is due to the fact that Soto and his crew are viewed as immortal. Ninjago Kaigun crew members go through special training to avoid fear of the unknown, and how they should react in an event of meeting Soto.

## Trivia

* After the findings of two Golden Weapons, historians and cryptooceanographers have started to question Soto's existence