First Spinjitzu Master

*“But a child arrived, born of both worlds. The child understood the power of both. Without one, you could not have the other. But when the Oni and the Dragon fought over which side the child should choose, the child abandoned their world to start a new one called Ninjago.”*

—Mystake about the Firandst Spinjitzu Master, "The Oni the Dragon"

## Information

### Affiliation

Oni (formerly)
Dragons (formerly)
His family

### Weapon of choice

Staff of the First Spinjitzu Master
Golden Weapons
Elemental Blade (flashback)
Dragon Armor (formerly)

### Element/Essence

All (except Water, Wind, Amber and Darkness

### Family

Firstbourne (ancestor)
Garmadon (son)
Wu (son)
Misako (daughter-in-law)
Lloyd Garmadon (grandson)

The First Spinjitzu Master was the creator of Spinjitzu, the island of Ninjago, and multiple other realms. He was also the father of Garmadon and Wu, Misako's father-in-law, and Lloyd's paternal grandfather. He was born from the worlds of both the Oni and the dragons, the warring sides of a seemingly never-ending conflict within the Realm of Oni and Dragons. Unwilling to choose a side, he abandoned his original world to create a land in the realm of Ninjago using the Golden Weapons.

After defeating a dark entity of pure evil, the Overlord, and splitting the land into two halves (Ninjago and the Dark Island), he empowered humans with Elemental Powers to become his guardians. Eventually, he fathered two sons, Wu and Garmadon, and entrusted them with defending the Golden Weapons. Shortly before his demise, he sealed himself into a tomb deep in the Endless Sea, where the Realm Crystal was also stored away.

After the Oni were vanquished by the efforts of the ninja and his sons, the First Spinjitzu Master summoned Lloyd to an unknown place in order to thank him for saving Ninjago.

## Biography

### Early life

Long before time had a name, the First Spinjitzu Master was born in the Realm of Oni and Dragons. There, he was a hybrid of both the Oni and the dragons. At some point, he bonded with the Firstbourne. Together, they created the Dragon Armor, and sought to unite the two races of the realm, and end their long war.

However, after the two sides refused to end the war and began to fight over which side he should choose, the First Spinjitzu Master realized that even he could not end the conflict between the two races. Devastated, he took off the Dragon Armor and created the Realm Crystal to leave the Realm of Oni and Dragons and went on to find a new home, leaving Firstbourne behind to guard the Dragon Armor and hoping for his return.

The First Spinjitzu Master used the Realm Crystal to traverse all the Sixteen Realms, except the Departed Realm. While traveling throughout the realms, he eventually went to the Never-Realm and nearly found himself trapped there until he somehow found a way back. Eventually, the child finally found himself in a realm of a vast ocean engulfed in chaos, caused by the sea serpent Wojira who ruled the sea and winds. With the help of the islanders and Merlopians, the First Spinjitzu Master engaged in a battle with Wojira, but she was too powerful even for their combined efforts. Nyad, the first Elemental Master of Water merged with the ocean by sacrificing her physical body to defeat the serpent. The First Spinjitzu Master then gave the Storm Amulet to the leader of the islanders and the Wave Amulet to the king of the Merlopians.

### Forming Ninjago

With the seas now calmed and the realm at peace, the First Spinjitzu Master forged the four Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu in the Temple of Light using gold from the Golden Peaks. With the weapons, he created the island of Ninjago, including the Serpentine deep in the earth. The new land was in harmony for a while, but darkness eventually manifested to counterbalance the light of Ninjago. From the darkness came an evil creature called "The Overlord," who challenged the First Spinjitzu Master to a battle for the fate of the world.

The First Spinjitzu Master fought the Overlord for a long time, with neither gaining the upper hand. Eventually, the Overlord created an indestructible army to aid him, nearly overwhelming the First Spinjitzu Master. To save the world from the grip of darkness, the First Spinjitzu Master used his powers to split Ninjago in two, destroying the Overlord's physical form and trapping the villain on an island what would come to be known as the Island of Darkness. This act balanced the forces of light and shadow, ensuring that the Overlord could never return to Ninjago.

With the Overlord defeated, the First Spinjitzu Master was able to seal away the dormant Stone Army in an indestructible tomb, which he buried deep beneath what would eventually become Ninjago City. At some point he traveled to the Island of Darkness to hide his Golden Mech in the Temple of Light, and gifted Elemental Powers to a select few to serve as their guardians, ensuring that their Elemental Powers would be passed to their descendants.

### After the Stone Wars

*Note: The placements of the First Spinjitzu Master telling Wu about the Never-Realm and his fishing trip with his sons are unconfirmed, but the latter is placed after the Devourer's bite due to Garmadon's aggressive behavior after being bitten by the Great Devourer.*

At one point sometime before his sons were born, the First Spinjitzu Master caught a young girl named Nineko stealing from him. Although she stole, the First Spinjitzu Master decided to train Nineko instead. Sometime after Nineko turned eighteen, the First Spinjitzu Master noticed that one of his katanas were missing and accused her of stealing it. Nineko tried to tell him that she didn't steal it, but he wouldn't listen and never trained her again.

Eventually, over the course of the millennia, the First Spinjitzu Master grew old. Feeling his time would very soon come to an end, he fathered two sons who inherited his tremendous powers. The eldest, Garmadon, with power over the forces of Destruction, the power of Oni, and the youngest, Wu, a future teacher to some ninja, with power over the forces of Creation, the power of Dragons. He taught them the art of Spinjitzu and how to harness their abilities, with the hope that the two would represent the balance.

The First Spinjitzu Master would create two scrolls that contained secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu. He deemed the Scroll too dangerous and when Wu and Garmadon returned home late, after initially questioning them, he soon sternly told them off when they wanted to read the Scrolls. He was furious with his sons when they disobeyed him and used the Scrolls to defeat Aspheera and hid the Scrolls. Because of this, the First Spinjitzu Master never trusted the two again.

*Note: The Book of Spinjitzu told a different story about the Scroll, where the First Spinjitzu Master caught Garmadon reading the Scroll and took it from him and ordered they never touch the Scroll. He apparently knew of its lure as he hid it from Garmadon as if he knew his elder son would want to read it again.*

At some point after this, the he and his sons began living in the Monastery of Spinjitzu. While he was looking over the Golden Weapons outdoors, Wu lost his katana in a sparring match with his brother. Knowing their father would get angry, Garmadon ventured over the wall to retrieve it. When Garmadon did not return, the First Spinjitzu Master got worried and went out to look for him, eventually finding his son near some bushes, wounded and extremely ill.

The First Spinjitzu Master attempted to heal Garmadon's wound, learning that he had been bitten by a strange viper. Garmadon lashed out at his father by stating he hated him and blamed Wu for it as he was shocked by this behavior, and the First Spinjitzu Master began to no longer recognize his oldest son as the same boy he was before. Unknown to anyone at the time, the viper who bit Garmadon was the Great Devourer, and its venom would steadily corrupt Garmadon into a ruthless, power-hungry villain who wanted to make the world into his image which was part of the Overlord's plan to return to Ninjago.

The First Spinjitzu Master told Wu of the Never-Realm once, where he described it as the most distant and coldest of all the Realms in creation and told him to never step foot in it, saying that no method from Ninjago that could allow for interdimensional travel could work there and noted even he was barely able to escape from the Realm.

One day, the First Spinjitzu Master went fishing with his sons and told the impatient boys to have faith after they didn't catch a fish. The First Spinjitzu Master was then pleased when Wu caught a big fish and told his eldest son to maintain faith.

Sometime during Garmadon and Wu's childhood, the First Spinjitzu Master was encountered by a man who would come to be known as Quanish the Elder.

One day, while the First Spinjitzu Master was deep in meditation, he had a vision of a cataclysmic event that he called as the Coalescence, where all realms would collide. Realizing its imminent arrival, he sought the aid of the Source Dragons. Pleading with them, he requested a portion of their dragon energy to create the Dragon Cores, which would hold back the Coalescence. When he realized his time in the realms was coming to an end, he became aware that evil forces could misuse the cores. So, he hid them in the Mother Garden, the Pinnacle of Crystals, and the Wyldness. In order to ensure that the discovery of the cores would be limited to his descendants, the First Spinjitzu Master created a enchantment, which was designed to ensure that the Spirit of the Temple would only reveal the locations of the cores upon the request of the rightful heirs.

At some point, First Spinjitzu Master constructed a tomb underneath the Endless Sea to serve as both his final resting place and a sanctuary to hide the Realm Crystal from falling into the wrong hands. To ensure that only a true Spinjitzu Master would be able to find it, the tomb was guarded by three deadly traps which required the Sword of Sanctuary from the Cloud Kingdom to safely traverse. Before he departed, the First Spinjitzu Master promised to leave a clue leading to the tomb to his sons and inscribed three clues on his staff.

### Presumed death

When Wu and Garmadon were young men, the First Spinjitzu Master charged his sons with the duty to guard the Four Golden Weapons against those who would misuse their power, warning them that the weapons were too powerful for any one man to handle. In his final moments, he sealed himself in his own tomb and died peacefully beside a waterfall, with the Realm Crystal in hand.

### In the Grasslands

At some point, the First Spinjitzu Master summoned Quanish the Elder to the Grasslands and offered him to stay, but he declined, saying that he had something yet to do in Ninjago.

After the ninja defeated the Oni, the First Spinjitzu Master summoned Lloyd to the Grasslands and proceeded to thank and praise him for having done so much for Ninjago, giving his grandson kind and complicated words regarding life and the future, bowing before Lloyd. He offered his grandson a choice: he could come with him to the Grasslands and find peace and happiness or he could return to Ninjago and be the Green Ninja once again.

Lloyd takes the latter option and the First Spinjitzu Master sends his grandson back to Ninjago by teleporting one of the petals from the Grasslands and having it float over Lloyd.

Not long after this, the First Spinjitzu Master summoned Quanish to the Grasslands once more, and the two spoke about their previous encounters and Quanish's search for answers in Ninjago. The First Spinjitzu Master told him that he would have all the answers he could ever want if he stayed, and Quanish accepted the offer, leaving behind his mortal body in Ninjago.

## Legacy

The First Spinjitzu Master's remains would eventually be found centuries later by Wu's pupils, the ninja, who sought to prevent the Realm Crystal from falling into the hands of Wu's first student, Morro. However, Morro would ultimately recover the crystal from the ninja and would go on to unleash his master, The Preeminent, onto Ninjago.

During the Day of the Departed, Wu returned to the ruins of the Monastery of Spinjitzu and drank a cup of Remembrance Tea in his honor.

In the Realm of Oni and Dragons, the First Spinjitzu Master's legacy is known by the Dragon Hunters. Upon learning that Kai, Jay, and Zane were Elemental Masters, Iron Baron deduced that they had been taught by the Master himself. Wu eventually begins regaining his memories, including one of his father teaching him and Garmadon how to fish, giving him the lesson to "have faith," which gives Wu the motivation to trust Heavy Metal. Furthermore, after fully regaining his memories, Wu reveals to the Dragon Hunters that he is the son of the First Spinjitzu Master, and Iron Baron takes advantage of the revelation, knowing that a blood relative will surely allow him to gain the Dragon Armor. After reaching Firstbourne's nest, Wu explains to Iron Baron that Firstbourne had seen the goodness in his father's heart, and therefore allowed him to ride her, unlike Iron Baron, in whom Firstbourne sensed darkness. Firstbourne eventually senses the goodness in Wu and allows him to wear the Dragon Armor, the same armor that his father wore during the war between the Dragons and Oni. Wu became the Golden Dragon Master and wore the armor in a final fight against his now-reborn brother Garmadon. After the final battle, Wu kept the armor, continuing his father's legacy.

The First Spinjitzu Master's legacy was not entirely good, however. After Garmadon was resurrected with the knowledge of darkness threatening Ninjago, having been reverted to his evil ways, he was so desperate to protect Ninjago that he hunted down his family to make sure they would not intervene in his quest to unite Ninjago and gain his full power. Garmadon even subconsciously modeled the Colossus after his father. Although Garmadon was, in a twisted way, honoring his father's legacy by protecting all he had created, his actions caused more harm than good. Lloyd, the First Spinjitzu Master's grandson, would ultimately defeat Garmadon and Garmadon passed down the responsibility of defeating the upcoming evil to his son, therefore indirectly entrusting to Lloyd the task of protecting his grandfather's legacy.

## Personality

The First Spinjitzu Master was a benevolent individual. His goodness was greatly respected by all who knew him. It is also very likely he was wise for Wu seems to have learned life lessons from him. The First Spinjitzu Master also did not practice favoritism, as he loved both his sons equally and Wu continued to defend him from Garmadon's bitter belief that Wu was always his favorite. He also seemed patient and kind, gently lecturing Garmadon and Wu when they failed to catch even a single fish. He was also very strict with his sons, and when he became angry with them for stealing the Scrolls of Forbidden Spinjitzu, he didn't even talk to them for years.

His impartiality is also demonstrated by choosing to side with neither the Dragons nor the Oni in their unending war with one another. This shows his compassion, as his hybrid nature would have tipped the balance of power, and possibly resulted in the outright genocide of either species.

Despite his generosity, he was actually known for having a harsher side that would leave a great impact on other people such as Nineko, who consisidered the First Spinjitzu Master to be like a father to her until she felt rejected by him due to her being accused of stealing one of his katanas.

## Weapons and abilities

### Abilities

* **Golden Power** - The First Spinjitzu Master was the first humanoid user of Golden Power, which was the source of his phenomenal power. The First Spinjitzu Master's power was sufficiently great to wield all the Four Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu at once and Garmadon has stated that the power of the First Spinjitzu Master could move mountains. Even the Oni, including the Omega, who is shown to be more powerful than his older son with his full potential, still would not dare attack Ninjago until his power had disappeared. He also managed to single-handedly defeat The Overlord and his Stone Army eventually in a great war by splitting Ninjago in half, destroying the Overlord's physical body and leaving him trapped in the Island of Darkness and sealing away the Stone Army in an ancient tomb. He had fully mastered the use of all the four main elements: Fire, Lightning, Earth, and Ice and could bestow them to others, as he was the one who gifted the Elemental Masters with their use. From his heritage as a hybrid of both the powers of the Oni and Dragons, he could command the power of Creation (most notably as the Tornado of Creation), and the power of Destruction, which he had at the highest levels, as he was capable of creating something out of nothing while other users needed materials to create, and his Creation powers were so great that he had the power to create an entire realm, having single-handedly created Ninjago.
* **Elemental Powers** - As confirmed in "A Big Splash," the First Spjinitzu Master could use all elemental powers besides Water, Wind, Amber and Darkness but it is unknown if First Spinjitzu Master had technology or heat but likely not.
* **Soul Control** - Through currently unknown means, the First Spinjitzu Master was able to summon Lloyd's spirit to him after he had helped stop the Oni and was also able to return Lloyd back to the living world after finishing their talk.
* **Teleportation** - While in his afterlife, the First Spinjitzu Master could teleport around while coaching Lloyd on the meaning of life and the future.
* **Longevity (Decelerated Aging)** - Due to his Oni and Dragon heritage, the First Spinjitzu Master was able to live for several thousands of years. This trait was later passed down to his two sons, as they have lived for thousands of years. It is unknown if his grandson inherited this trait, as he is still very young.
* **Supernatural Combat** - The First Spinjitzu Master was clearly an exceptional martial artist in both armed and hand-to-hand combat, having been the one to develop the martial art of Spinjitzu and he was known to have wielded the Golden Weapons masterfully. He had a Spinjitzu fighting style unique known to him alone (later learned also by Lloyd), which was called the "Golden Dragon". The First Spinjitzu Master was also a highly capable teacher, as, under his tutelage, both of his sons would become excellent fighters in their own right.
* **Enhanced Intelligence (Enhanced Wisdom)** - The First Spinjitzu Master was known to be extremely wise and intelligent. His intelligence was displayed by how when the time came for him to die, in order to prevent anyone from traversing the Realms, the First Spinjitzu Master decided to hide the Realm Crystal in his tomb and cleverly encoded the clues on his staff and created three cunningly laid out deadly traps that the ninja had difficulty cracking. The First Spinjitzu Master was an exceptional weapon crafter, having been the one who shaped the Golden Weapons from the gold of the Golden Peaks before using the Temple of Light's powerful elemental energies to empower them. The First Spinjitzu Master was also equally capable of creating complex machinery as well as using them, as he was the creator of the Golden Mech and was able to use it without fail during his war with the Overlord.
* **Shapeshifting** - Although never shown, the First Spinjitzu Master is half Oni and therefore able to shapeshift at will into any creature he desires.

### Weapons

* **Golden Weapons**: The First Spinjitzu Master was the only one who could wield the power of the four Golden Weapons at once (until Dark Magic gave Lord Garmadon the same ability), and he likely wielded them all in combat. In "The Stone Army," he is pictured with a glowing sword of pure energy, similar to the Elemental Blades, though in reality he had been in the Golden Mech at the time.
* **Bo staffs**: Passively, the First Spinjitzu Master kept with him at least two staffs, one containing the clues to his tomb that was passed to Wu, and another made of gold that was placed in his tomb's second test.
* **Dragon Armor**: The First Spinjitzu Master was the co-creator and wearer of the fabled Dragon Armor.
* **Scrolls of Forbidden Spinjitzu**: The First Spinjitzu Master created the Scrolls of Forbidden Spinjitzu, which enhances the elemental power of the wielder. However, it slowly corrupts with prolonged usage and requires great willpower to overcome.

## Vehicles

### Dragons

* Golden Dragon
	+ According to Misako in "Island of Darkness," the First Spinjitzu Master was the original possessor of the Golden Dragon and was capable of summoning it. The First Spinjitzu Master was later seen with the Golden Dragon in the Grasslands.
	+ It first appeared in "Endings."

### Mechs

* Golden Mech
	+ The First Spinjitzu Master piloted the Golden Mech in a battle against the Overlord.

## Relationships

### Family

* Garmadon (son)
* Wu (son)
* Misako (daughter-in-law)
* Lloyd Garmadon (grandson)

### Allies

* Dragons
* Keepers
* Merlopians
* Nineko (formerly)

### Enemies

* Oni
* Wojira
* The Overlord
* Stone Army

## Trivia

* His origins were revealed in Season 8: he originated from the Realm of Oni and Dragons.
	+ Being "the child of light and darkness," it is likely that the First Spinjitzu Master inherited his powers from the Oni and the Dragons (inheriting Golden Power/Creation from the Dragons and Destruction from the Oni).
* His voice is heard for the first time in "The Gilded Path."
* His true name is unknown, as he is only ever referred to as "the First Spinjitzu Master." This may be because while many know his legend, there are very few alive old enough to have known him in life.
	+ For unknown reasons, despite probably knowing their father's name, neither Wu or Garmadon has stated the true name of the First Spinjitzu Master, likely out of respect, but even when Garmadon was bitter at his father due to the Devourer's venom, he never revealed his father's true name. It may be because he simply had gotten used to calling his father "the First Spinjitzu Master" or may not have known his father's actual name at all.
	+ It is also unknown whether Mystake is aware of his true name but like with his sons, she never mentions it, although given that she had known him longer than his sons, it can be assumed she was aware of it and just never got the chance to say it until her death.
		- The First Spinjitzu Master didn't have a last name.
		- On the statue in his tomb he appears to have a long beard like his son. It is unknown in which moment of his life he had such a beard, because he has no beard in any of the flashbacks or visions.
		- His "human" form may not be his original form.
		- He referred to the Oni as the Bringers of Doom, though he has Oni blood himself.
			* It is possible that he is left-handed, as he is shown writing with his left hand in the flashback shown in "Never Trust a Human" when Wu and Garmadon came back home after they escaped from Serpentine Valley.
				+ It is also possible that he is ambidextrous, as he is also depicted wielding weapons mainly in his right hand, but simply may prefer writing with his left.

### In *Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu*

#### Design variants

Child (Dragon Armor)ChildAdult (Template:Suit)Adult (another kimono)Remains
#### Pilot episodes

Illustration of the First Spinjitzu Master with his sons before his demise.
#### Season 1: Rise of the Snakes

Tending to the Golden WeaponsFinding Garmadon ill
#### Season 2: Legacy of the Green Ninja

Facing The OverlordSpliting Ninjago and the Dark Island

#### Season 5: Possession

A statue of the First Spinjitzu Master at his tombMoS52FSM.pngThe remains of the First Spinjitzu Master holding the Realm Crystal
#### Season 8: Sons of Garmadon

The First Spinjitzu Master creating the Golden Weapons

#### Season 11: Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu

First Spinjitzu Master.webpCreating the Scrolls of Forbidden SpinjitzuScreenshotter--NEW1111-4’22”.webpScreenshotter--NEW1111-4’14”.webp
#### Season 14: Seabound

Ninjago–Master of the Sea–0’29”.pngArriving in NinjagoNinjago–Master of the Sea–0’33”.webpNinjago–Master of the Sea–0’41”.webpNinjago–Master of the Sea–0’49”.webpNinjago–Master of the Sea–1’04”.webpNinjago–Master of the Sea–1’07”.webpNinjago–Master of the Sea–1’09”.webpNinjago–Master of the Sea–1’58”.webp