The Overlord

“Did you truly think you could defeat me? Your powers were a gift from me. It was I who possessed the serpent that bit your hand! It was I who corrupted the Great Devourer and set him against you! All that has happened was by my design! The Devourer was merely a pawn, set in motion by me to provide a worthy vessel for my return. Now, at last, I have such a vessel. I am complete!”— The Overlord to Garmadon and Lloyd, "Dragon Form

## The Overlord

* Crystal King
* Golden Master
* Dragon

## Information

### Affiliation

Stone Army (formerly)
Nindroid Army (formerly)
Crystal army (formerly)

### Weapon of choice

Golden Armor (formerly)
Crystal weapons

### Element/Essence

Darkness
Golden Power (as the Golden Master; formerly)

### First Appearance

The Stone Army
70505 Temple of Light

### Voiced by

Scott McNeil

The Overlord (also known as the Dark Lord) is the original evil spirit, the creator of the Stone Army and the source of all Darkness and evil. A primordial dark entity, he first manifested as a draconic being that challenged the First Spinjitzu Master, who was well aware of the creature's true nature. After a lengthy battle, the First Spinjitzu Master succeeded, defeating the Stone Army and trapping the Overlord on the Dark Island. Not willing to resign in defeat and wanting to take revenge, the dark entity corrupted a lone serpent and sent her after the Spinjitzu Master's oldest son, Garmadon, to put his plan into motion.

Thousands of years later, a corrupted Garmadon was confronted by the Overlord's spirit, who influenced him to join forces. Garmadon assumed command of the indestructible Stone Army, which constructed an ultimate weapon. Eventually, the Overlord revealed he was using Garmadon and possessed his body - commencing a metamorphosis that turned him into his monstrous original form. The ninja and Lloyd returned to Ninjago, where Lloyd fought and defeated the Overlord in the final battle.
Sometime later, the Overlord once again returned in the form of a digital virus. With the help of Pythor and the Nindroids, the Overlord became the all-powerful Golden Master using the Golden Weapons and Lloyd's Golden Power. In a final effort to defeat the Overlord, Zane sacrificed himself, destroying both their physical forms. As the balance must be maintained, the Overlord survived, and his spirit went into hiding for many years. A statue of him was to be placed in the Ninjago Museum of History's Hall of Villany prior to the Time Twins' return.

During the Ninja's battle against the resurrected Garmadon to free the city from his control, the Overlord confronted Harumi in his void following her demise, coercing her into doing his bidding and reviving her. The Overlord adopted the title Crystal King, and once again sought to destroy the Balance promising Harumi eternal peace in the darkness. A year after the Great Flood, Harumi assembled a council of villains to serve the Overlord, including Pythor, the Mechanic, Mister F, Aspheera and Vangelis, who performed a ritual to grant the Overlord a physical form. The Overlord waged a new final battle on the people of Ninjago, and was met with resistance from the ninja and their allies. Ultimately, the Overlord was defeated by Lloyd and the combined elemental might of Earth, Fire, Ice and Lightning, which took the form of the Golden Ultra Dragon. After his defeat his spirit was sent to the his void.

## History

*“So you know about how the First Spinjitzu Master created Ninjago, but what if I were to tell you in order for there to be light, there must be shadow, and within shadow, there is darkness. The blackest of darkness that existed from the very beginning. An evil spirit called The Overlord.”*

— Misako to Ninja, "The Stone Army"

### In the beginning

Light and Darkness have always been in balance since the very beginning, even before Ninjago's creation. In the First Realm there were two kinds of beings with unfathomable power: the Oni and the Dragon. The Dragons had the power to create, while the Oni had the power to destroy; and so, they waged war against each other. One day, a child was born of both powers, the First Spinjitzu Master, who left his homeworld with one single goal: to create a peaceful land without an eternal war. However, in the shadows of the void lurked evil - the Overlord, a dark spirit that had always existed.

Shortly after the creation of Ninjago, the Overlord emerged into the realm in response to Ninjago's light. He challenged the First Spinjitzu Master to a battle for the fate of Ninjago. The battle eventually grounded into a stalemate, so the Overlord created the Stone Army to turn the tide in his favor. At one point, the Overlord and his army took cover at the Temple of Fortitude to resist the First Spinjitzu Master's Golden Power.

Eventually realizing that he would be overcome, the First Spinjitzu Master used all of his strength to split Ninjago into two equal halves, which would later become two islands—one half remained as Ninjago, and the other became the Island of Darkness. This balanced the forces of light and darkness, stripping the Overlord of corporeal form and preventing him from leaving the Island of Darkness as it slowly sank beneath the sea. For thousands of years, he plotted the events that would lead to his return and the fulfillment of his revenge.

When Wu and Garmadon were still very young, the First Spinjitzu Master would tell the boys campfire stories of the Overlord.

At some point after his defeat, the Overlord corrupted a serpent that would later become known as the Great Devourer and set his plan in motion, pinning the serpent on a young Garmadon, in order to corrupt his power and use Garmadon to create strife, as well as create a variety of other problems that would stem from the Great Devourer's influence, which would ultimately lead the Overlord to obtaining a worthy vessel to inhabit.

### Legacy of the Green Ninja

#### The Stone Army

After being betrayed by Skales and falling into the Endless Sea, Lord Garmadon was carried to the shores of the Island of Darkness, now just a nondescript tropical island. Appearing before Garmadon as a pulsing sphere of purple-ish energy, the Overlord guided the four-armed villain through the jungle, promising to fulfill his dream of remaking Ninjago in his own image. Although skeptical and suspicious of the mysterious being, Lord Garmadon followed the Overlord's instructions and activated a mechanism in a rock at the center of the island, causing the rest of the Island of Darkness to rise from the sea.

#### The Day Ninjago Stood Still

With the Island of Darkness restored, the Overlord had Lord Garmadon climb a series of rugged cliffs, assuring him that a great power lay at the end of his trial. Eventually, Lord Garmadon arrived in front of the Celestial Clock, and the Overlord told him to remove the Helmet of Shadows from its pedestal. As Garmadon placed the Helmet on his head, the hands of the Celestial Clock began to move. The Overlord explained that the helmet gave Garmadon control of the Stone Army, while the Celestial Clock was counting down to the final battle between good and evil—a battle that the Overlord intended to win.

#### The Last Voyage

When Lord Garmadon went to oversee the Stone Army's mining operations, the Overlord told him that the soldiers were searching for Dark Matter, a powerful evil material that could be used to construct an ultimate weapon for the forces of darkness. After hearing this, Garmadon became much more excited about mining.

#### Island of Darkness

As construction of the ultimate weapon continued, the Overlord warned Lord Garmadon that he sensed the presence of the ninja on the Island of Darkness. Garmadon responded by sending Stone Warriors across the island to hunt the ninja down, only to find them narrowly escaping capture in his own base camp. The Overlord realized that the ninja were looking for the Temple of Light, and told Garmadon about the location's significance.

Unfortunately for the forces of evil, the ninja succeeded in their quest, and the Stone Army was driven off by their renewed elemental powers and Lloyd's new "Golden Dragon" technique. Learning of this development atop the mountain where the Celestial Clock rested, the Overlord alleviated Garmadon's concerns by reminding him that their forces were also growing stronger, and the countdown to the final battle continued unabated.

#### The Last Hope

As the ultimate weapon neared completion and the Celestial Clock neared the end of its countdown, the Overlord sensed a growing conflict within Garmadon. The latter insisted that he wanted nothing more than to consume Ninjago with darkness, but the Overlord questioned Garmadon's resolve, noting that the final battle would inevitably bring him into contact with Lloyd. His prodding caused Garmadon to explode with rage and redouble work on the ultimate weapon, pleasing the Overlord.

When the ninja managed to steal the Helmet of Shadows, Garmadon sent the Stone Army in pursuit, only for the Overlord to remind him that the ninja could control the army if one of them donned the Helmet. Acknowledging this possibility, Garmadon instead opted to pursue the ninja's Power Drill with his Samurai Mech but failed to stop them from reaching the Celestial Clock. However, their unfamiliarity with the clock's design—coupled with the interference of General Kozu—prevented the ninja from replacing the Helmet of Shadows before the countdown finally ended. As Lord Garmadon wondered what was going on, the Overlord explained that the final battle was about to begin, and led his servant back to his base camp, where the Garmatron was finally completed.

#### Return of the Overlord

As Garmadon admired the Garmatron, the Stone Army returned with Nya as a prisoner. The Overlord watched as Garmadon immersed Nya in Dark Matter, infecting her with evil and transforming her into a loyal servant of darkness. With the test complete, the Overlord accompanied his forces as the Garmatron left the camp and headed for the coast.

Upon arrival, the Overlord encouraged Garmadon to fire the Garmatron's main cannon across the ocean—its Dark Matter warheads would infect Ninjago piece by piece, remaking it in Garmadon's image. Unfortunately, Lord Garmadon was distracted when Lloyd, Master Wu, and Misako arrived and begged him to stop—although they failed to reach the villain, their interference prevented the Overlord from warning Garmadon about the main cannon's twenty-second warm up period. Despite this, the Stone Army managed to delay the heroes until the Garmatron could fire, thereby corrupting Ignacia.

As Lord Garmadon dropped Lloyd and General Kozu down a trapdoor and fired another shot of Dark Matter at Jamanakai Village, the balance between light and darkness shifted enough for the Overlord to begin manifesting in the world once more. At this point, the Overlord revealed that he had been using Lord Garmadon all along—the four-armed villain had only been a pawn in the Overlord's millennia-long plan to free himself and conquer Ninjago. Lord Garmadon angrily protested at this (both at being used and because the Overlord was "stealing" one of his previous plans), but the Overlord took over his body, declaring that his "metamorphosis" had begun.

In an attempt to gain even more power, the Overlord set the Garmatron's sights on Ninjago City, only to realize that the ninja were interfering with the Stone Army's attempts to reload the cannon. He sent General Kozu to secure the bullets but ended up accidentally firing him into Ninjago City when Master Wu kicked the general into the Garmatron's loading port. The Overlord was then confronted by Lloyd, who was determined to stop the villain before he could corrupt any more of Ninjago.

A fierce battle erupted, with the Overlord gaining the upper hand. However, Lloyd called out to his father, and Lord Garmadon's attempts to reach out to his son caused the Overlord to weaken momentarily. Taking his chance, Lloyd launched a furious assault, and Lord Garmadon desperately struggled against the Overlord's control in order to avoid harming his own son. Unfortunately, the Overlord regained control over Garmadon's body and overcame the Green Ninja's energy beam, trapping Lloyd in a sphere of darkness and hurling him across the beach, breaking his leg. Weary of the ninja's interference, the Overlord opened a portal to Ninjago City and led his army through it, leaving the ninja stranded on the Island of Darkness.

#### Rise of the Spinjitzu Master

The Overlord and his army appeared in the middle of Ninjago City, where the former immediately began bombarding everything in sight with Dark Matter fired from the Garmatron's turrets. The influx of darkness accelerated the Overlord's metamorphosis, allowing him to regain his original form. Leaving his helmet in the streets, the Overlord proceeded to transform the Garmatron into the Dark Fortress, setting Nya and the Stone Army to defend it.

When the ninja returned and attacked the tower, the Overlord let his minions do the work against his foes until Dareth gained control of the Stone Army by donning the Helmet of Shadows. He began spitting masses of darkness at the ascending ninja, corrupting Cole, Jay, and Zane. With Kai occupying his corrupted sister and the Ultra Dragon shot down, the Overlord turned to the top of the stairs to find only an injured, unarmed Lloyd standing against him. The Overlord scoffed at the Green Ninja's defiance, but Lloyd was able to unlock his full potential, becoming the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master.

Despite his own considerable power, the Overlord was overwhelmed by Lloyd's new abilities. Even taking the fight to the sky failed to provide an advantage, as Lloyd summoned the Golden Dragon to pursue the ultimate evil. Enraged at the mortal's persistence, the Overlord surrounded Lloyd in a massive sphere of darkness and attempted to devour him. In turn, Lloyd used his powers within the Overlord's mouth—the Dark Lord had only enough time to roar in fury and denial before he was obliterated, removing the taint of darkness from Ninjago City, the corrupted heroes, and even Lord Garmadon.

### First Return

Unbeknownst to the heroes, the Overlord was not destroyed by his battle with Lloyd although he was almost reduced to nothing. When Borg Tower was built in the former resting place of the Dark Fortress, the Overlord's ashes infected the network and his conscience was reborn as a virus.

### Rebooted

#### The Surge

The Overlord infects Cyrus Borg through his artificial limbs, transforming him into the villainous OverBorg. The Overlord proceeds to spread his corruption to all of the robots in New Ninjago City, and sends them after the ninja; however, they escape.

#### The Art of the Silent Fist

The Overlord collects residue of Lloyd's Golden Power to try to make a new vessel but soon runs out of power. The Overlord tells P.I.X.A.L. he needs more of Lloyd's Golden Power and changes his plan to capture Lloyd instead of getting the Techno Blades.

#### Blackout

After the power went out, a stranger stole a hard drive containing The Overlord and then put it in the computer, which was powered by Electro-Cobrai.

The Overlord is outraged that he failed to procure Lloyd. However, the stranger explains that his attack on the ninja was merely a plot for them to send the Falcon, of which he has hacked. With Lloyd heading into Hiroshi's Labyrinth, it will be the perfect place to spring a trap. Delighted by this news, the Overlord tells the stranger that he likes him due to the deviousness of the plan and laughs as his vengeance gets within reach.

#### The Curse of the Golden Master

Lloyd's location has been revealed and is clear for capture; however, the Stranger said that their low on power and he gets a tank full of Electro-Cobrai and is fully operational to capture the Golden Ninja to conquer his Power to become the Golden Master.

#### Enter the Digiverse

When the ninja entered the Digiverse in a bid to shut the Overlord down for good, the villain sent Pythor and the Nindroids to attack their physical bodies while he patrolled the Digiverse to attack their consciousnesses. His digital self was erased by the Techno Blades, seemingly destroying his consciousness, but before he was erased he escaped into his incomplete vessel.

#### Codename: Arcturus

Pythor and the Nindroids managed to recover the Mechdragon and retrieve the Overlord from within it. However, due to the incomplete transfer of Lloyd's golden power, the Overlord was left as an shapeless blob—not wishing the Nindroids to behold his weakened condition, he had Pythor conceal him.

Learning that Lloyd had divided his Golden powers between himself and the other four ninja, the Overlord initiated Codename: Arcturus, a backup plan to acquire the Golden Weapons from space. Despite the ninja's efforts, the Overlord and Pythor succeeded in completing their rocket and launching it from the Lost City of Ouroboros. Unbeknownst to the Overlord, however, the five ninja boarded the rocket just before it took off.

#### The Void

The Overlord is taken to Borg Tower by the Nindroids to await the arrival of the Golden Weapons.

#### The Titanium Ninja

He finally managed to get the Golden Weapons to become the Golden Master and create his mech. Later when his destructive reign begins, the ninja manage to head back to New Ninjago City and get the Indestructible and Invulnerable powers of the Stone Army to stop him including a pill which could shrink the Overlord. When Wu and Garmadon throw the pill to him, Pythor manages to get the pill which saved the Overlord; however, Pythor had to face the consequences of turning small and being chased by the Falcon. The Overlord then used beams of pure Golden Power to ensnare all of the ninja, except Zane. Zane then used the beams to get close enough to the Overlord to hang off of the Golden Mech. Zane then began to absorb the energy within the Golden Mech, weakening the Overlord. He then used the last of his strength to destroy the Overlord's physical vessel.

### Ninjago: Decoded

It was discovered that a fragment of the Overlord's encoded essence was inside of Zane's systems from when the ice ninja was rebuilt. The fragment of malevolent code had slowly grown and eventually gained sentience as the result of years locked away festering in a memory loop, feeding off Zane's subconscious trauma. When Nya and Zane looked over the nindroid's memory banks to create a record of the ninjas' journeys, they unintentionally gave the virus access to Zane's systems, which swiftly spread at an alarming rate throughout the nindroid. Ultimately, The Overlord's digital spawn was erased by the ninja directing their happiest memories at the virus' source code.

### Second Return

Similar to the aftermath of his battle with Lloyd, the Overlord survived his defeat by Zane, feigning the assumption that he was reduced to dormancy. He would spend the next few years in exile, hiding from the inhabitants of Ninjago, bearing witness to countless historical conflicts and feeding off of the resulting violence while planning his revenge, awaiting the opportunity to reveal himself.

### Crystalized

#### A Sinister Shadow (flashback)

After Harumi's death from the collapsing building, the Overlord, introducing himself as the Crystal King, met up with her, saying he's been noticing her and her potential for some time. When he offered her to be resurrected in exchange for having to work for him, Harumi reconsidered due to the fact that she didn't even know him. This caused the Overlord to believe that he was wrong and began to leave, leaving Harumi, implying that he will send her to Departed Realm. But Harumi changes her mind and accepted the deal, so the Overlord brings her back to life.

The Overlord gave Harumi the central crystal and told her to go to the Oni Temple, where she placed the crystal inside a pedestal and transforming it into the Crystal Temple. When the central crystal grew, the Overlord manifested as a shadow from inside and revealed himself to Harumi, showing his true identity as the Overlord to her. Harumi began to fear that the Overlord will destroy Ninjago, but the latter claimed that he actually wants Ninjago to be at peace, saying that destruction actually comes from the battles between good and evil but could stop it by destroying the Balance. This convinced Harumi to serve the Overlord once more, so the Overlord then ordered her to create an army made out of Vengestone, which would allow them to block the ninja's Elemental Powers.

A year after the Great Flood ended, the Overlord began to recruit the ninja's enemies by forming the Crystal Council. With the help of his second-in-command, Harumi, he was able to have Mister F, Aspheera, Vangelis, Pythor, and the Mechanic become the council's members and join the crystal army. During the assembling, the Overlord had Harumi meet up with Lloyd after he and the others were arrested and put to Kryptarium, wanting him to know about the Crystal Council and their attack on Ninjago.

#### Darkness Within

After the Crystal Council steal the four Golden Weapons, Aspheera performs a ritual with her new staff to transform the weapons into the Weapons of Destruction. With their new power, the Overlord begins to emerge from his crystal as the Crystal King, and repeats a familar phrase to Lloyd during the events of The Final Battle, "It ends, now," as he laughs menacingly.

#### The Coming of the King

After gaining his physical form as the Crystal King, the Overlord reaffirms Lloyd that he has truly returned and recalled the times Lloyd, Garmadon, and the First Spinjitzu Master battled him, saying that despite their efforts, they always fail to destroy him. But after hearing Lloyd saying that he could beat him a third time, the Overlord attempts to intimidate the Green Ninja by bestowing his council new powers and weapons, and moments later, turn his temple into a floating Crystal Island. He then gave Lloyd two options between working for him, or die. However, Lloyd chooses neither and escapes. The Overlord then orders Harumi and the rest of the council to destroy Lloyd. As they did so, the Overlord goes to the room that had the Vengestone Guards, being proud that Harumi did what he asked her to do. Using his powers, he brings the Vengestone Guards to life by crystalizing them.

#### Crystastrophe

After rising out of Primeval's Eye and heading to the farmers' village, the Overlord confronts Harumi about not finishing Lloyd when she had the chance, leading him to assume she may have feelings for him. This gives the Overlord an opportunity; since every time he faces the ninja they get stronger, he decides to corrupt their powers instead. By using their loyalty to Ninjago to their disadvantage, the Overlord tricks the ninja into coming to him. The Overlord starts launching Crystal Warriors into the farmers' village.

#### Brave But Foolish

After arriving in Ninjago City, the Overlord and Harumi saw Zane approached them in his Golden Dragon Jet. The Overlord was confident in the island's ability to disable Zane's vehicle, as it had done in the past. To their surprise, Zane fired missiles that hit the temple, causing the two to fall over. The Overlord quickly realized that the ninja's vehicles were shielded in some way. Meanwhile, Nya used cables from the *Destiny's Bounty* to pull the temple away. In response, the Overlord released the Dragonides, who attacked the ninja and damaged to most of their vehicles.

Wu confronted the Overlord, who questioned his belief in victory. Wu responded with unwavering determination, and the two engaged in battle. The Overlord utilized his powers of Darkness, while Wu recounted stories shared by the First Spinjitzu Master about the Stone Wars. The Overlord dismissed the First Spinjitzu Master's efforts, claiming that he only maintained balance by dividing Ninjago, staving off the Dark Lord's wraith for only so long. The Overlord declared that the end was near, with no more delays. Despite this, Wu vowed to oppose him as long as he lived. The Overlord knocked Wu off the Crystal Island, determined to eliminate him first for that reason. The Overlord, harnessing his powers, channeled the energy of Ninjago City through the central crystal, causing the city to be drained of its vitality. The Overlord reveled in the realization that his true power was now evident. He unleashed a blast upon the *Destiny's Bounty*, engulfing it in flames. Seated upon his throne, the Overlord savored the beginning of the end, knowing that his eternal reign of darkness had commenced.

#### An Issue of Trust

The Overlord rants to his council for not finding the ninja, then Harumi plays a radio transmission intercepted by Mister F, the Overlord then orders the council to destroy the warehouse and leave the ninja for him. Lloyd and Garmadon soon arrive on the Crystal Island and engage in battle with the Overlord.

#### Dragon Form

The Overlord transforms into his centaur-like form and destroys Lloyd's mech. The Overlord then reveals he was the one who corrupted the Great Devourer, which causes Harumi to betray him.

#### Roots

Garmadon is weakened from the blasts of the Overlord, causing Lloyd to unlock his Oni Form. They engage in a short battle then the Overlord proceeds to corrupt the powers of creation. He then tries to kill Harumi for her betrayal when he is attacked by the Golden Ultra Dragon, formed from the newly restored Golden Weapons, combined by the Ninja. He is then blasted by all four elements of creation then his physical form is destroyed by a strike of the dragon's tail, thus freeing Ninjago and its inhabitants from his darkness once again. His spirit is now dormant.

## Personality

As the epitome of all evil and choas, the Overlord is shown to be serious, cunning, and practical; however, he is often reliant on metaphysical concepts (the Final Battle, the prophecy of the Golden Master, etc.). The Overlord disregards all things heroic, such as compassion, empathy, and justice, and insteads devours on anger, hatred, and conflict. As such, those negative qualities build up all over time, allowing him to regain a physical form. He is likewise cruel, calculating, and sadistic, often taunting his opponents in moments of weakness. In fact, he has been known to go out of his way to do so. Despite his seriousness and mystique, the Overlord can be seen as irritable and stir-crazy at certain points, as shown with him impatiently wanting to harness Lloyd's Golden Power for himself, and that his minions were taking too long to capture the boy or threatening his council for failing to capture the ninja. Like with most villains, the Overlord only sees his minions as pawns in his schemes, though he has shown actual respect for two individuals: Pythor and Harumi, however, said respect was never genuine as the Overlord had no qualms with leaving Pythor to his shrunken fate or destroying Harumi for her betrayal. The Overlord is also a forthright being; as he has no problem pointing out Garmadon's flaws while the four-armed villain was commanding the Stone Army; likewise, he also didn't hesitate to berate his armies whenever they failed an important mission for him. Nevertheless, he is also shown to be manipulative when he lied to Harumi about wanting to destroy the Balance and eliminate all conflict in Ninjago in order to achieve peace, thus appealing to her goals and desires. However, it is proven to be a ruse used to manipulate her into serving him when he unintentionally shown his true colors when he revealed that he corrupted the Great Devourer; that he was actively creating and instigating all of Ninjago's conflicts in the first place so he can reduce not only Ninjago, but all of the realms of creation, to lifeless oblivions which he can rule supreme for eternity.

## Appearance

During Misako's telling of Ninjago's origins (seen in "The Stone Army"), the Overlord was depicted as a towering mass of dark fire with a vaguely humanoid shape.

When Lord Garmadon arrived on the Island of Darkness, the Overlord appeared as an orb of purple energy with a pale yellow core. The orb pulsed as the Overlord spoke.

After possessing Lord Garmadon's body, the Overlord began his transformation to his original form, which started out as larger, more demonic version of Garmadon. Notable differences included longer limbs ending in clawed hands and feet, short spikes erupting from his shoulders and back, glowing purple eyes, elongated reptilian jaws filled with long fangs, Garmadon's armor fusing with his own body, and the lack of a purple sash. In "Rise of the Spinjitzu Master," the Overlord completed his transformation, a monstrous black dragon with four long feelers on its face, massive, tattered black wings instead of four arms, a broad, toothy mouth, and Garmadon's fused armor having now become the entity's underbelly.

As a digital virus, the Overlord would appear on screens as a purple mist-like background with reddish-yellow eyes that pulsated whenever he spoke.

"Enter the Digiverse" saw the Overlord appear in two different forms. The first was that of a shadowy armored humanoid, as he was in the process of transforming into the legendary Golden Master. When confronting the ninja inside the Digiverse, he took a shadowy humanoid form of great size made out of black and blue ash that possessed a number of tentacles.

In "Codename: Arcturus," the Overlord had become a pulsing amorphous, pink, white, and red blob with glowing red eyes due to his interrupted transformation into the Golden Master.

In "The Void," the Overlord's being had stabilized into that of a completely blank, black armored humanoid with glowing red eyes with faint purple energy trailing from his back that appeared similar to a short cape as his body was nearly complete.

In "The Titanium Ninja," the Overlord assumed his semi-golden master form as a black and purple humanoid figure with a face akin to the mid-metamorphosis form he assumed in Garmadon's body with a pair of glowing red eyes. Furthermore, he was adorned with golden skeletal armor and a black helmet with even more purple energy trailing from his back that appeared similar to a larger full cape. After completing his Golden Master form by fusing with his mech, he experienced a growth spurt of enormous proportions where his armor gained a more ornate appearance and his torso and legs had completely disintegrated with vibrant, flickering purple flames taking their place with mechanical black and gold machinery attached to him in place of his legs, which Zane would ultimately use to hold himself in place when the master of ice presumably died.

After regaining a physical form in "Darkness Within" as the Crystal King, the Overlord has a black face with two large gray-white horns, pink glowing eyes, sharp teeth, and yellow accents on his face. His horns, bare a strong resemblance to the horns on the Oni Mask of Deception. There also appear to be several tusks from the underside of his face. He is also seen having a tall metal neck from underneath his face. His torso closely resembles that of his Golden Master form, though with a few notable differences; his Golden Master symbol is present but now glows pink. There are also glowing pink parts in between the armor, and there are two crystals of the same color on the upper portion of his torso, with the addition of gray shoulder pads. He gains four golden arms which end in gray hands, similar to when he possessed Garmadon, though he lacks the claws and elongated limbs, having humanoid arms and hands, which goes for the same case for his legs, which are dark gray with yellow and purple accents and patterning.

In "Dragon Form" and "Roots," the Overlord transforms into a Centaur-like creature in order to fight Garmadon, Lloyd, and later Harumi. In this form, his size increases greatly, though not to the extent of his Dragon nor Golden Master forms. His entire body appears to be made of impenetrable gray stone with large infectious crystals, four legs and two bulky arms with indigo nails, a golden chestplate and a torso that resembles his form whilst wearing the Golden Armor. He also gains four crystal wings which allow him to fly. He also gains a golden crown on top of his head with two crystal horns protruding out of it. In this form, he describes himself as a complete being similar to before his banishment to the Dark Island.

## Powers and abilities

*“Did you hope to defeat me so easily? This form is but a shell; a vessel which I command, and change at will!”*

— The Overlord, "Dragon Form"

### Abilities

* **Beyond-Dimensional Existence**: The Overlord's truest being exists in an unknown void, that was shown in "A Sinister Shadow", during his dormant state and for a full return to the physical world and mortal plane of existence he needs a physical form.
	+ **Manifestation**: The Overlord uses avatars in order to interact in the physical world.
* **Abstract Existence**: The Overlord exists as conceptual source of all evil in the world and as evil itself.
* **Levitation**: In his spirit and Crystal King form, he was able to float freely, allowing him to travel on the Island of Darkness and the Crystal Island.
* **Resurrection**: The Overlord has the ability to resurrect souls from the Departed Realm (whether he can only resurrect newly departed souls or ones that have been departed for a while as well is currently unknown). He used this power shortly after Harumi’s death after she vowed to serve him.
* **Enhanced Perception**: He also appeared to have some form of enhanced perception, as he immediately sensed the ninja's arrival on the Island of Darkness. The Overlord also has some kind of perception of living beings (it is not known whether it was thermal vision or the Overlord sees the souls of beings themselves).
* **Enhanced Strength and Durability**: After using Lord Garmadon's body to retake a physical form, the Overlord gained enhanced physical strength and high durability, easily able to take Lloyd's attacks and overpower him.
* **Possession**: As shown by the example of Lord Garmadon and the Borg Industries systems, the Overlord is able to possess objects, making them his hosts. Upon possessing Garmadon, the Overlord caused a mutation in his body, turning him into a dragon so the Overlord could regain his original form.

### Powers

* **Darkness**: The Overlord possesses the elemental essence of Darkness. Whilst in control of Lord Garmadon's body, he gained the ability to release dark energy from his hands. He usually fired this energy as offensive beam attacks, which could overpower Lloyd's energy beams and break his leg, but he could also use it to fly; by releasing small "jets" of energy from his lower pair of hands, the Overlord was able to hover in the air or propel himself at varying speeds.
	+ **Darkness Materialization**: The Overlord can give life to inanimate statues. He uses this ability to give life to the Stone Army and the Crystal Warriors, in which the latter were created by having parts of them be replaced with the infectious crystals.
	+ **Dragon form**: Over time, the Overlord can turn into his original dragon-like form, from which his strength and durability increased even further, due to his massive size. He could fly with the use of his large wings, breath dark fire, and spit masses of pure darkness that corrupt anything they hit (much like the Garmatron's Dark Matter shots). At the end of his battle with Lloyd, he displayed the ability to transform himself into a large orb of shadows that engulfs his foe—within the orb, his head grew to many times its original size, although it is unclear if this was purely an ability, or if his host body kept him physical. Even before his transformation as the Golden Master, he was the most powerful enemy the ninja ever met.
	+ **Crystal Creation**: As the Crystal King, the Overlord can create his own crystals that can bestow anyone or anything his powers, or infect them.
		- **Strength Bestowal**: Upon giving Harumi a crystal, he allowed her to move massive hunks of debris to escape a collapsed building following her resurrection.
		- **Telekinesis**: As the Crystal King, the Overlord can use his crystals to levitate and move objects of great size (in this case the Crystal Island by using the central crystal) at will. This is similar to when he used Golden Power as the Golden Master to move all of Ninjago City and turn it into a fortress.
		- **Crystallization**: As the Crystal King, the Overlord can use his powers to crystallize terrain, people, objects, and even entire cities. Once Crystallized, said objects, people or terrain are under his full control, and whatever powers they possessed are also under his command as well. He wished to use this power to crystallize the ninja, and thereby gain dominion over the Elements of Creation.
		- **Shapeshifting**: As the Crystal King, the Overlord can change shape and size at will, as shown when he shifted his form to be that of a giant centaur-like creature.
		- Immortality: The Overlord due to being primordial is immortal and cannot be destroyed or killed.
* **Golden Power**: As the legendary "Golden Master," his powers grew to be equivalent to, if not greater than the First Spinjitzu Master. Once he gained this power, he used it to turn Ninjago City into a colossal fortress, gathering the largest buildings into a near impenetrable wall. Soon after this, he tried to shoot Kai with a beam of Golden Energy. He was also able to use Golden Energy to levitate cars in mid-air, and even threw one at Nya. Eventually, as the Ninja were traveling down a street in their vehicles, the Overlord shot them with a massive ball of golden energy, sending them all huddling further down the street. After this, he used his newfound powers to perform Spinjitzu for the first time, becoming a massive golden tornado. When the ninja got Stone Armor, the Overlord, like the Golden Master, shaped roof tiles into a massive arm and hand in an attempt to crush the ninja; despite this, he failed to crush them. At the end of the episode, he was powerful enough to ensnare the ninja with beams of Golden Power. Though, this shouldn't have been possible as the stone armor the ninja were wearing was supposed to be resistant to the might of Golden Power. However, the Overlord had grown in strength and power tremendously by that point in the episode, which may have been the reason why he was able to overpower the stone armor.

## Vehicles

### Tanks

* Garmatron
	+ This vehicle was built for Garmadon and the Overlord to launch Dark Matter into Ninjago. However, after betraying Garmadon, the Overlord took possession of the Garmatron.
	+ It first appeared in "The Last Hope."

### Mechs

* Overlord Mech
	+ A large mech that the Nindroids created for the Overlord after he became the Golden Master.
	+ It first appeared in "The Titanium Ninja."

## Relationships

*Main article: The Overlord's relationships*
### Allies

	+ Kozu
	+ Giant Stone Warrior
	+ Stone Warriors
	+ Stone Swordsmen
	+ Stone Scouts
* Great Devourer (deceased)
* Nindroid Army
	+ Cryptor (destroyed)
	+ Nindroid Warriors
* Council of the Crystal King
	+ Aspheera
	+ Vangelis
	+ Pythor
	+ The Mechanic
	+ Mister F
* Crystal Warriors (destroyed)
* Dragonides (destroyed)
	+ First Spinjitzu Master (deceased)
	+ Garmadon (false ally)
	+ Wu
	+ Misako
	+ Lloyd
* Ninja
	+ Kai
	+ Cole
	+ Zane
	+ Jay
	+ Nya
* Dareth
* Cyrus Borg
* Harumi (former ally)
* The Resistance

## Trivia

* Overlord is not just the embodiment of evil, but literally the source of all evil in the world and evil itself.
* The Overlord and the First Spinjitzu Master were the first beings with powers similar to Elemental Masters in the realm of Ninjago.
* The Overlord views the environment with thermal vision in his "spirit" form.
* The Overlord has several specific features that are not shared by anyone else in the show:
	+ The Overlord is the only character in the realm of Ninjago who is immortal, as he cannot be truly killed or destroyed.
* According to Misako in "Rise of the Spinjitzu Master", the Overlord's original form is a dragon.
	+ This may explain why his possessed Garmadon, Golden Master, and Crystal King forms both resemble his dragon form in some way, even though neither the backstory of the Overlord nor the prophecy of the Golden Master show them in this fashion.
	+ His depiction in the legend is likely due to the ability he demonstrates at the end of "Rise of the Spinjitzu Master". Similarly, the same episode reveals the Golden Mech used by the First Spinjitzu Master. Neither the mech nor the dragon are depicted in the legend, although the former's revelation better reveals why the First Spinjitzu Master was able to split Ninjago.
		- The book *Secret World of the Ninja*, which shows this same legend, describes him as growing stronger, despite his lack of a physical form. This is either an error (as the same book says Dr. Julien was interrogated by the Stone army instead of the Skulkins), or an indication that his dragon form isn't fixed like his Golden Master one.
		- Because of this, it's likely he could become just a shadow-sphere back then, but not when he regains it in the present since he's technically still possessing Garmadon.
		- The Overlord's possession of Garmadon is similar to Zuul and Vinz Clortho's possession of Dana and Louis in the first *Ghostbusters* movie.
* His dragon form more closely resembles that of a Wyvern.
* During the prophecy of the Golden Master, the symbol of the Overlord can be seen on the Golden Master's chest. This foreshadows the Overlord becoming the Golden Master.
	+ He would have gotten rid of or betrayed Pythor eventually, as he did with Garmadon.
		- The Overlord and Morro are the only two Elemental Masters (if the Overlord can be considered an Elemental Master) to take over the body of another Elemental Master: Garmadon for the Overlord, Lloyd for Morro.
			* Both of these hosts are related to each other.
				+ The Overlord does not submit to the writing of fate by the monks of the Cloud Kingdom. This means that it is not affected by any objects that somehow "know" the fate of the one against whom they are directed. It's also possible that Overlord transcends the very concept of causation, based on its nature.
				+ This is likely to his primordial nature.
* He is likely the most powerful of all the primordial beings, expect the First Spinjitzu Master, despite him being a creation, who defeated the Overlord.