The Overlord

**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 in Ninjago. A sinister dark entity, he first appeared 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 Villainy 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 an era of 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. His fate is currently unknown.

He is the overarching antagonist of *Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu*.

## Goals

* Shift the balance from Light to Dark. (partially succeeded; abandoned)
* Escape from his imprisonment.
* Achieve a physical form and new powers.
* Escape from the Digiverse to Ninjago.
* Become the Golden Master. (all succeeded)
* Corrupt and transform Ninjago into a realm of darkness to rule over.
* Destroy the Ninja and the balance between Light and Dark.
* Corrupt the powers of creation to bring darkness to Ninjago and all the other realms. (all failed)

## Occupation

* Source of Evil and Embodiment of Darkness in Ninjago
* Shadow puppeteer of the Great Devourer
* Master of the Stone and Nindroid Armies (formerly)
* Leader of the Crystal Army
* Benefactor of the Council of the Crystal King

## Powers and Skills

* Enhanced strength
* Immortality
* Nigh-invulnerability
* Possession
* Umbrakinesis
* Flight
* Technokinesis
* Umbra-ergokinesis
* Umbra-crystallokinesis
* Umbra-electrokinesis
* Umbra-pyrokinesis
* Resurrection

## Roles

The Overlord serves as one of the two unseen overarching antagonists of the *Pilot Episodes* (alongside the Great Devourer) and *Season 13: Master of the Mountain* (alongside Harumi), a mentioned antagonist in *Season 1: Rise of the Snakes*, *Day of the Departed* and *Season 9: Hunted*, one of the two main antagonists (alongside Garmadon) of *Season 2: Legacy of the Green Ninja* (specifically as the unseen overarching antagonist of the first half and the main antagonist of the second half), the main antagonist of *Season 3: Rebooted* and *Season 15: Crystalized*, a flashback antagonist in *Season 4: The Tournament of Elements*, an unseen antagonist for the rest of the series and the sole antagonist of the *Decoded* miniseries.

## History

### In the Beginning

Before Ninjago's creation, 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 went on to create a world of light and darkness, these powers had been past down to him from their respective owners.

From the shadows of the new world, the Overlord emerged. Risen to counterbalance the light of the land, the Overlord challenged the First Spinjitzu Master to a battle for control of Ninjago.

The battle eventually ground into a stalemate, so the Overlord created the Stone Army to turn the tide in his favor. 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, preventing the Overlord 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.

### Season 2: Legacy of the Green Ninja

#### The Stone Army

After being betrayed by Skales and falling into the Endless Ocean, 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 pink-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 voice, 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 the 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 Ninjas' Earth Driller with his own robot, 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, Sensei 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 warmup 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 Sensei 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 a tower-like fortress from which to oversee the newly-corrupted city, 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 and Jay. With Zane holding Cole and Jay back, 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 dragon 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 Garmatron, the Overlord somehow infected the network as the Digital Overlord virus.

### Season 3: Rebooted

#### The Surge

The Digital Overlord infects Cyrus Borg through his artificial limbs, transforming him into the villainous OverBorg. The Digital 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 Digital Overlord collects Lloyd's Golden Power to try to make a new body, but soon run out of power. The Overlord tells P.I.X.A.L. he needs more of Lloyd's Golden Power, and changes his plan to capturing Lloyd instead of getting the Techno Blades.

#### Blackout

After the Power went out, a Stranger stole the Hard Drive of the Overlord then put it in a computer which was powered by Electrocobrai.

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 now controls. 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 they're low on power and he gets a tank full of Electrocobrais 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 infiltrated 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 new incomplete "Golden Master Body."

#### 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 insubstantial 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 plan to acquire the Golden Weapons from space (where they had been sent following the events of "Wrong Place, Wrong Time"). Despite the Ninjas' 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's new body 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 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 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 form, but at the cost of his own life.

### Season 4: The Tournament of Elements

#### The Corridor of Elders (flashback)

Lloyd has a flashback about the Overlord possessing Garmadon.

### Day of the Departed

While Dr. Saunders is giving the Ninja a tour of the Ninjago Museum of History's latest exhibit, the Hall of Villainy, Kai mentions that every villain they've ever fought has a statue in the museum. In response, Saunders says that there's still many more statues to be added, including ones of the Overlord and the Golden Master. Based on this statement, it is possible the Overlord would have had more than one statue in the museum.

### Ninjago: Decoded

A remnant of the Overlord Virus' code (trapped in a Memory Loop) was found in Zane, and slowly began corrupting him in order to take control of Zane's body and exact his revenge on the Ninja. But by using good memories, they managed to erase the rest of the Overlord Virus, for good.

### Season 9: Hunted

#### Green Destiny

During the Liberation of Ninjago, Jay references the Final Battle and the Nindroid crisis by mentioning the Overlord.

### Tales from the Monastery of Spinjitzu

After the reconstruction of the Monastery of Spinjitzu, a mural was created, depicting the major historical events the ninja had faced. Several parts of the mural depicted the Overlord (in Dragon form and in Golden Master form).

### Second Return

Similar to the aftermath of his battle with Lloyd, the Overlord survived his defeat by Zane, feigning the belief 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 while planning his revenge, awaiting the opportunity to reveal himself.

### Season 15: 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 behind in the Departed Realm. But Harumi changes her mind and accepted the deal, so the Overlord brings her back to life.

The Overlord gave Harumi a 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 a larger crystal emerged from the pedestal, 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 Vengestone 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 familiar 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 claims that he has returned and recalled the times Lloyd, Garmadon, and the First Spinjitzu Master battled him, saying that all they do is just fail. 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 still has 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 Vengestone Warriors into the Farmers' village.

#### Brave But Foolish

After arriving in Ninjago City, Harumi warns the Overlord of Zane's Jet flying towards them. The Overlord dismisses this saying his attacks will do nothing, until he realizes the ninja have upgraded their vehicles. Nya then uses the Destiny's Bounty to try and pull the Overlord out of the city, but he sends Dragonides to attack them. The Overlord watches as Garmadon uses his Oni Form to destroy the Dragonides. Master Wu then climbs up the Crystal Island to face the Overlord, yet gets defeated. He then gathers his powers to form crystals all over Ninjago City, blasting the bounty in half with his power soon after.

#### 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 punish Harumi for her betrayal when he is attacked by the Golden Ultra Dragon. He is blasted by all four elements of creation then his physical form is destroyed by a strike of the dragon's tail.

## Personality

As the epitome of all evil in Ninjago, 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 to 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 to 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.

"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.

The remnant of the Overlord's digital code from "Decoded" has visual traits from both forms of the virus' full version. Being purple and filling a screen, it has the general figure of the Overlord's eyes but they are smaller and can turn as if they were on a head. They also differ from both the original and the Kraken by appearing more yellow than red.

After gaining a physical form in "Darkness Within" as his new form 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 limbs, having actual LEGO 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.

## Trivia

* While Garmadon is the main antagonist of the Ninjago series, the Overlord is the overarching antagonist due to a number of reasons:
	+ The Overlord is responsible for corrupting the Great Devourer and sending her to bite Garmadon as a child, which triggered his path to evil and his banishment to the Underworld, where he would rule over the Skulkin and use them in his mission to retrieve the Golden Weapons, leading to his brother Wu assembling the original four ninja, allowing them to obtain the weapons before Garmadon could.
	+ Garmadon's fall into the underworld would leave an empty gap in Lloyd's childhood, driving him to release Pythor and the Serpentine, who in turn release the Great Devourer to attack Ninjago City before her death at Garmadon's hands.
	+ The death of the Great Devourer is what led her venom to seep through the Stone Army's tombs, reviving them and trapping the Serpentine which led to the Overlord's first attack on the ninja.
	+ The Overlord's second attack on the ninja is what forced Zane to sacrifice himself to destroy the Overlord's Golden Master form before rebooting himself and getting himself kidnapped by Ronin and sold to Master Chen.
	+ Zane's survival is what leads to the ninja participating in the Tournament of Elements in order to save their revived friend, but they couldn't stop Chen and his Anacondrai worshippers from transforming into fake Anacondrai, which forced Garmadon to sacrifice himself in order to defeat Chen.
	+ Garmadon's banishment to the Cursed Realm inadvertently releases Morro, allowing him to release his master the Preeminent, who is also the living embodiment of the Cursed Realm, which is also the dark entity's inner belly. Cole would become a ghost during a quest to find the Scroll of Airjitzu at the Temple of Haunted Hill. And when the ninja defeated Morro and the Preeminent, the latter's destruction resulted in the deaths of all imprisoned in the Cursed Realm, including Garmadon and Chen.
	+ The Preeminent's destruction is what drove Clouse to escape as a ghost and inadvertently release Nadakhan, who battles against the Ninja as his realm was destroyed by the Preeminent's destruction. However, the ninja undid all of Nadakhan's actions, resulting in him being trapped again.
	+ However, the ninja's reversing the events involving Nadakhan didn't stop Clouse from freeing the Sky Pirates from the realms they were separately marooned in and using them in an attempt to plunge Ninjago into darkness. The ninja were able to stop the Sky Pirates while Clouse would be banished into the Underworld.
	+ Sensei Yang would attempt to become human once more whilst also obtaining immortality during the Day of the Departed. Cole becomes human again after defeating and reforming Yang.
	+ The Overlord's creation of the Great Devourer is what led to the creation of the Vermillion (the Great Devourer's offspring), who in turn allied with Krux and Acronix in their plot to control all of time.
	+ The Great Devourer's attack on Ninjago City is also the true cause of the deaths of Harumi's biological parents, which drove Harumi to form the Sons of Garmadon and revive Garmadon as a supposedly malevolent being.
	+ Harumi's actions resulted in most of the ninja being banished to the Realm of Oni and Dragons (ruled by Iron Baron) and for Lloyd to form a resistance group against Garmadon and the Sons of Garmadon. This event also led to the defeats of Garmadon and Iron Baron while Harumi dies in a crumbling building.
	+ Garmadon's fall from power would result in the invasion of the Oni (led by the Omega) across the realms, though the ninja, with Garmadon's assistance, managed to defeat them using the Tornado of Creation.
	+ Upon reviving Harumi, the Overlord sent her on a mission to collect Vengestone for an army of crystal warriors, which motivated her to form a deal with Vangelis, thus instigating his plot to mine for Vengestone by enslaving the Munce and Geckles in the Shintaro mines. The Overlord also tasked Harumi with employing many of the ninja's surviving enemies (Pythor, Vangelis, Aspheera, and the Mechanic) in his endgame to petrify all life in Ninjago, forcing the ninja to bring in their friends, allies and former enemies (including Garmadon, Ronin, Unagami, the Serpentine, and the Sons of Garmadon) to fight back against the Overlord's armies.
* He is the only villain to be the main antagonist of three seasons.

## Forms

The Overlord's first formThe Overlord's spiritThe Overlord's mid-metamorphosis formThe Overlord's original dragon formThe Digital OverlordThe Overlord's Digital Kraken formThe Overlord about to become the Golden MasterThe Overlord's weakened stateThe Overlord as a blackened Golden MasterThe Overlord as the Golden MasterThe Overlord's spikey spiritThe Overlord's shadow form inside a crystalThe Overlord's blackened Crystal King formThe Overlord as the Crystal KingThe Overlord's centaur form