Preeminent

> "*My master has arrived.*"
> ― Morro when the Preeminent enters the realm of Ninjago.
>
>

The **Preeminent** (also called the **Queen of the Cursed**) was an eldritch horror who was the embodiment and ruler of the Cursed Realm; trapped within the Ethereal Divide and the master of the Ghost Warriors. One ghost, Morro, was her general and his goal was to retrieve the Realm Crystal from the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master and use it in her arrival to curse all the Realms of Creation, including Ninjago. After Morro claimed the Realm Crystal, The Preeminent emerged into Stiix and began terrorizing the city.

The ninja were hopeless to stop The Preeminent, even with the use of their new vehicles. Wu had the citizens of Stiix flee the city on a steamboat, prompting the ghosts to attach buildings to The Preeminent's body and create a giant walking harness, enabling her to move around. When Nya unlocked her True Potential, she created a giant tidal wave that drowned The Preeminent and destroyed the Cursed Realm, killing all those (except Clouse) inside.

Later, following the ninja's journey to the Never-Realm to rescue Zane, P.I.X.A.L. and an angered Wu attempt to open a gateway for the ninja to return through using a special Traveler's Tea recipe. However, they're unable to successfully open a portal to the Never-Realm, inadvertently opening other realms, one being the Departed Realm, allowing The Preeminent to force her way back into the world of the living and rampage through Ninjago City. P.I.X.A.L. entered the "Kaiju Protocol," engaging the beast in battle, ultimately concluding in her nearly sacrificing herself to absorb enough energy to defeat the monster, allowing a calmed Wu to return her to the Departed Realm.

## History

When the Realms first came into being, The Preeminent was born to embody the Cursed Realm at its creation; possibly the same time as its sister realm Djinjago. Her gut would go on to function as a prison for the most wicked of souls.

Later on, Morro, while looking for the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master, died in the Caves of Despair. As a result, he was sent to the Cursed Realm, where he proceeded to fall under The Preeminent's control.

### Spellbound (flashback)

During Arcturus and the Anacondrai generals' trial, they were sentenced to be banished to the Cursed Realm. After Garmadon used the Book of Spells to open a portal to the Cursed Realm, The Preeminent proceeded to absorb them into her essence.

### The Day of the Dragon

During Clouse and Garmadon's fight, the former opened a portal to the Cursed Realm in order to banish his opponent. Though The Preeminent attempted to suck in Garmadon, he ultimately threw Clouse inside instead, satisfied with obtaining a new prisoner, she closed the portal.

### The Corridor of Elders

In an attempt to defeat Chen and the Anacondrai Cultists for good, the ninja open a portal to the Cursed Realm, through which The Preeminent promptly absorbs Garmadon. However, as part of her deal, she releases Arcturus and the Anacondrai generals from their cursed sentence, who proceed to curse Chen and his army. She absorbs the villains into her essence and closes the portal, but not before releasing her lieutenant, Morro, into Ninjago to put her plan into motion.

### Stiix and Stones

When summoning Soul Archer, Morro gloats over her satisfaction over their progress.

### The Temple on Haunted Hill

In an attempt to calm down Ghoultar, Morro reminds him that The Preeminent would prefer for her minions to remain patient.

### Peak-a-Boo

In order to assert his command, Morro reminds Ghoultar, Soul Archer, and Bansha that in The Preeminent's absence he is in control.

### Kingdom Come

At some point, The Preeminent made a deal with Fenwick, promising to spare him in return for the Sword of Sanctuary. Later on, she was seen in an illusion as Fenwick described her to the ninja.

### Curseworld, Part I

When Lloyd attempted to destroy the Realm Crystal, The Preeminent dragged him in and absorbed him into her essence as she prepared to enter Ninjago.

### Curseworld, Part II

Upon entering Ninjago, The Preeminent proceeded to unleash countless waves of Ghost Warriors to do her bidding, seeking to devour souls in order to gain more strength, and nearly absorbing Misako. Despite the ninjas' attempts, she easily shrugs off their attacks, flicking aside and destroying the Ghost Taker GT and absorbing the Ghost Cycle with ease. When the ninja attempted to drop her into the Endless Sea, she commanded Morro and her ghosts to help her possess the City of Stiix, giving her a relative immunity to water and greater mobility. She then proceeded to test out this new tolerance before chasing after several citizens on a fleeing ferry in order to devour their souls. However, when Nya unlocked her True Potential, the latter knocked The Preeminent into Hallows Trench before she could gain a true immunity to water, ultimately killing her. As she flailed in pain, however, she attempted to drag Morro back in with her, ultimately succeeding.

Following the Preeminent's death, her sister realm, Djinjago, began to collapse as a result, consequently killing countless Djinn in the process.

### The Kaiju Protocol

When Wu and P.I.X.A.L. try to connect with the Never-Realm to open a gateway for the ninja, they accidentally open the Departed Realm and cause The Preeminent to escape. However, she was defeated and sent back to the Departed Realm.

## Powers and abilities

Being the Cursed Realm itself, The Preeminent was one of the most powerful beings in all of the Realms of Creation, ruling over an army of ghosts at her disposal. She assumed supreme command over all that were cursed under her influence, and could resurrect them indefinitely. She also had the ability to possess entire cities, absorbing a majority of the City of Stiix into her body. Even Water, the weakness of all ghosts, could be averted by devouring enough souls. Consequently, she was able to wade through the ocean relatively unharmed, and she became stronger and more powerful as a result. The Preeminent also had the power to disintegrate the bodies of those who entered her, if they remained within her for long enough.

Her powers also extended to those she turned into ghosts. Arcturus and the Anacondrai generals gained the ability to make others such as Pythor normal size again. Additionally, she was able to give her minions the ability to curse people and even objects, with Soul Archer also being able to summon Skreemers at will. The Preeminent possessed massive strength, easily tossing aside the Ghost Taker GT, and was relatively unaffected when her knee was frozen solid, shattering the ice with ease.

Additionally, as the Cursed Realm, she can dictate the laws of those who enter and exit. In order to free someone from her grasp, the one who banished them had to take their place, for example. However, she could also subvert these rules as a result, unleashing Morro regardless. Finally, The Preeminent seems to have a minor manipulation of destiny, rendering the Cloud Kingdom Monks' control over destiny null in order to accomplish her goals; this is possibly due to her status and thus influence as a realm, as, likewise, her death resulted in Djinjago's destruction.

## Relationships

### Allies

* Ghost Warriors - Subordinates
	+ Soul Archer †
	+ Bansha †
	+ Ghoultar †
	+ Wrayth †
* Fenwick

### Enemies

* Ninja - Attempted Victims
	+ Nya - Killer
	+ Lloyd Garmadon
	+ Kai
	+ Jay Walker
	+ Cole
	+ Zane
* Cursed Realm inhabitants - Former Prisoners
	+ Garmadon
	+ Chen †
	+ Clouse
* Wu
* Misako - Attempted Victim
* Morro † - Former Ally and Victim
* P.I.X.A.L.

## Appearances

### Sets

* 70670 Monastery of Spinjitzu (painting; Legacy)

### *Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu*

#### Season 5: Possession

* 47. "Stiix and Stones" (mentioned)
* 48. "The Temple on Haunted Hill" (mentioned)
* 49. "Peak-a-Boo" (mentioned)
* 50. "Kingdom Come" (illusion)
* 53. "Curseworld, Part I" (partially)
* 54. "Curseworld, Part II"

#### Ninjago: Decoded

* 1. "Legacy"
* 2. "Vehicles and Mechs"

#### Tales from the Monastery of Spinjitzu

* 1. "Master Class" (painting)
* 2. "Green and Gold" (painting)
* 3. "The Weekend Drill" (painting)
* 5. "Blue Lightning" (painting)
* 6. "Samurai X-Treme" (painting)

#### Season 10: March of the Oni

* 95. "The Darkness Comes" (painting)
* 98. "Endings" (painting)

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

* 99. "Wasted True Potential" (painting)
* 100. "Questing for Quests" (painting)
* 124. "The Kaiju Protocol"

## Trivia

* When The Preeminent seized Misako, Morro tells Wu that the more souls The Preeminent consumes, the bigger she gets. While this is never actually shown in the episode, this concept is very similar to that of the Great Devourer, where the more the snake eats, the bigger she gets.
* The Preeminent is never seen communicating with the Ghost Warriors or Morro.
* When one of The Preeminent's tendrils were destroyed, two grow in its place. This may be a reference to the Hydra, a monster from Greek Mythology because after one of the heads gets sliced off, two grow back in its place.
* Also similar to Greek Mythology is the notable similarities that The Preeminent shares with the Greek Protogenos, Tartarus. Similarities include:
	+ Both are a place and a being.
	+ Are used as a prison for extremely dangerous or powerful enemies of the protagonists.
	+ Are not known to take a humanoid form.
	+ Have command over those who have been trapped inside them.
* The Preeminent is the smallest known realm. At the same time, she is also the largest villain the ninja have faced thus far.
* In the Korean-translated shows, she's known as "The Ruler of Destruction."
* The Preeminent is the only known sentient realm.
* It is unknown how The Preeminent intended to win. However, due to her goal of cursing all the Realms of Creation and ability to get stronger by devouring souls, it's possible she intended to convert everyone else into Ghost Warriors under her command, becoming far more enormous in the process. Additionally, devouring more souls seems to give her a greater immunity to her weakness, Water, thus making her invulnerable in the process.
* Alongside Nya, she arguably has caused more deaths than any other character in the entire series. This is due to her devouring countless cursed souls throughout history and her destruction resulted in the deaths of all but one of the Anacondrai Cultists, the entire Ghost Army and all of the Djinn, save Nadakhan and Arrakore.
* The Preeminent, along with Harumi, Aspheera and Empress Beatrix are the only main antagonists that are female.
	+ She is the only female main antagonist to be deceased.
* She is one of the five main antagonists to be from another realm, the others being Nadakhan, Iron Baron, The Omega, and Vex.
* If not destroyed by Nya, The Preeminent wouldn't have stopped with Ninjago and would have gone on to curse the rest of the realms as well.
* The Preeminent is one of the seven main antagonists in the TV series not currently known to be alive, the other six being Chen, Morro, the Time Twins, The Omega, and Kalmaar.

## Personality

Despite never speaking within the show, several characters and actions hint to her relatively unseen personality. According to Fenwick, The Preeminent is easily more vile and wicked than all of the souls she's consumed, to the point where she was unable to leave the Ethereal Divide as a result. Additionally, she was willing to devour the souls of innocents without restraint in order to make herself more powerful and in her conquest to curse the Realms of Creation completely disregarded the consequences of her failure killing countless Djinn as a result of her death. Likewise, she was ambitious enough to seek control over all the Realms of Creation.

She also apparently had a calmer and manipulative side, making a deal with Fenwick in order to gain the Sword of Sanctuary. Likewise, she preferred patience, as noted by Morro. However, she also showed extreme determination, venturing out into the Endless Sea, which was filled with her weakness, Water, in an attempt to devour souls to become more powerful.

However, upon her death, The Preeminent showed a less graceful side. Even as she began to dissolve in the Endless Sea, she attempted to drag her own faithful general, Morro, to his death alongside her for little to no reason, possibly as punishment for failing to protect her or just plain spite.

## Translations

 Czech
 German
 Italian
 Polish
 Russian

## References

1. ↑ "Kingdom Come"
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/785215346177347584