Great Devourer

> 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.
>
> The Overlord revealing the truth of the Great Devourer to Garmadon, "Dragon Form"

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The **Great Devourer** was a monstrous serpent corrupted by the Overlord in order to fulfill his plans. It was worshipped by the Serpentine as a goddess, and believed to consume all of creation if left unchecked. According to legend, it could only be unleashed if the Serpentine tribes united and found the four silver Fangblades. She was responsible for Lord Garmadon's transformation to evil, biting him when he was a child and corrupting him with its venom. The Serpentine then tried using the Devourer to scare the people of Ninjago underground to protect them from the Golden Master. However, this only fueled the people's disgust for the Serpentine. Around this point, the Devourer was sealed underground.

When Lloyd freed Pythor, he schemed to awaken the Devourer by uniting the Serpentine and finding the Fangblades. Pythor successfully did so at the Lost City of Ouroboros, where the Devourer consumed him and Wu before heading to wreak havoc in Ninjago City. The ninja battled the Devourer until Garmadon seized the Golden Weapons and vaporized the beast.

Long after its demise, the Devourer would impact future conflicts, as the Overlord foresaw. Its venom revived the Stone Army, its eggs were used by Krux to breed an army of Vermillion, and the destruction it caused during its rampage led Harumi to become the Quiet One, after the beast caused her parents' deaths. Its influence even carried onto the climactic final battle, as Harumi turned against the Overlord upon learning he corrupted the Devourer, which led to the loss of her parents.

### Background

 File:10Garmadonbitten.png   In its early days thousands of years ago, the Devourer was just a small green viper. It was made a pawn by the Overlord as part of his plan to corrupt the eldest child of the First Spinjitzu Master, mutating the young serpent with darkness to which it gained an ominous poison that could turn the purest of hearts evil. With the Overlord possessing its body, the Devourer was sent upon near the Monastery of Spinjitzu, where it saw Wu's fight with the Time Twins, who traveled in time. When they disappeared and a young Garmadon came here to retrieve Wu's katana, it bit him, infecting him with darkness. Over the years it grew into a titanic monstrosity.

The ancient Serpentine worshipped the young Devourer at the time, even going as far as to unleashing it on Ninjago in an attempt to scare their enemies. The beast was instead defeated by the people of Ninjago, whom sealed it under the Lost City of Ouroboros. During its imprisonment, it laid the Vermillion eggs, creating the Vermillion.

### Rise of the Snakes

#### Can of Worms

The Great Devourer's existence was revealed when Cole and Zane entered the Constrictai Tomb. While searching for the inhabitants, the two ninja discovered a crude mural on the wall depicting the Serpentine gathering before an especially massive snake. Zane translated the drawings as a prophecy: when the Serpentine united as one, they could find the Four Silver Fangblades and unleash the Great Devourer, who would consume all of Ninjago and turn day into night.

 File:DevourerStatue.png
#### The Snake King

A statue of the Great Devourer was present at one end of the Slither Pit arena in the Lost City of Ouroboros.

#### Tick Tock

When Wu explained that the Devourer was a legendary beast that would consume all in its path, and its venom could turn even the noblest soul into a being of pure evil, he charged the ninja with finding the four Fangblades before the Serpentine could, as the Fangblades were the keys to the Devourer's revival.

#### The Rise of the Great Devourer

 File:2Thedevourerarises.png
Despite the ninja's best efforts, Pythor managed to collect all of the Fangblades and retreat to Ouroboros, where the Devourer was thought to have been imprisoned. Placing the Fangblades in the teeth of the statue overlooking the Slither Pit arena, Pythor commanded the Devourer to awaken, expecting it to emerge from the statue. To his surprise, the beast was not within the statue, but beneath the arena itself, and it was far larger than Pythor had expected.

More frightening still for the Anacondrai General, Master Wu revealed that the Great Devourer was not bound to obey the one who awakened it and had no qualms about eating the Serpentine along with the rest of the world. As Master Wu prevented Pythor from fleeing, the Great Devourer burst free of its stone prison, immediately swallowing Pythor and Master Wu whole.

#### Day of the Great Devourer

 File:MoS13Bite.png
The ninja attempted to escape the Devourer in the *Destiny's Bounty*, but they only succeeded in making the beast even bigger when it ate their jettisoned ballast and the ship itself. However, the escape gave them time to reach Ed & Edna's Scrap N Junk, where they used a Tornado of Creation to build the Ultra Sonic Raider. Equipping their new vehicle with Zane's recording of the Sacred Flute, they managed to deal some damage to the Devourer, also discovering a small weak spot on the top of its head. However, the Great Devourer destroyed the Ultra Sonic Raider's sonic cannons and withdrew to attack Ninjago City.

 File:14Ultradragondevourer.png
The ninja followed the Great Devourer and managed to prevent it from consuming any innocent civilians, but the monstrous snake proved too powerful for them to defeat. Even the arrival of Nya's Samurai Mech and the Ultra Dragon did little against the Devourer. During the Great Devourer's rampage, Harumi's parents were killed after the massive serpent destroyed their apartment building in the city. Eventually, Lord Garmadon arrived and revealed that the only way to slay the Devourer was to use the power of all four Golden Weapons, which only he could do. Despite their misgivings, the ninja agreed, with Kai also telling Lord Garmadon about the Devourer's weak spot.

 File:MoS13Trapped.png
While Lord Garmadon left to prepare his attack, the ninja distracted the Great Devourer, leading it on a mad chase around the city. Eventually, they were able to immobilize the beast by tangling its body in buildings and tricking it into biting its tail, leaving it weak spot wide open as Lord Garmadon combined the energies of the Golden Weapons with his dark powers. Declaring his actions as vengeance against the Great Devourer for dragging him down the path of evil, Lord Garmadon leaped from a skyscraper and plunged through the creature's weak spot with the Golden Weapons, causing the Great Devourer to explode spectacularly, releasing large amounts of venom onto the city.

## Other appearances and mentions

### Legacy of the Green Ninja

#### Darkness Shall Rise

Despite its death, the Great Devourer's evil influence continued to plague Ninjago—literally—as its defeat flooded the city with venom. The ninja spent a large amount of time helping the city's cleanup efforts. When Skales was attempting to assert his leadership over the Serpentine, Skalidor suggested unleashing the Great Devourer again, only for Skales to strike the Constrictai general for suggesting a bad idea.

#### Double Trouble

Lord Garmadon called his Serpentine forces together on the *Black Bounty* for a brainstorming session on how to defeat the ninja with his new Mega Weapon. Upon hearing that the weapon could only create, not destroy, Lasha suggested recreating the Great Devourer. Lord Garmadon was not amused by the idea and had the Venomari scout thrown overboard as a sign of his displeasure.

#### The Stone Army

The Great Devourer's venom dripped onto several pieces of Stone Army merchandise at the Ninjago Museum of History, bringing them to life, as explained by the Museum Curator. Later, some more venom dripped on the Giant Stone Warrior exhibit found by Misako, bringing the ancient soldier to life.

#### The Day Ninjago Stood Still

More of the Devourer's venom seeped deep underground, as noted by Skales. The venom activated an entire army of Stone Warriors, which were suddenly awoken, sealed in a hidden tomb unearthed by the Serpentine, which ended with the Serpentine themselves being sealed away once again.

### Rebooted

#### The Curse of the Golden Master

Acidicus explained an ancient Serpentine legend to the ninja, revealing that the Serpentine were, in the beginning, trying to save the people of Ninjago from the Golden Master, and they had tried to use the Great Devourer to scare the people of Ninjago underground. However, the people defeated the Devourer and believed that the Serpentine were the enemy, and drove *them* underground.

Later, Pythor revealed that he survived his time in the Great Devourer's stomach, although the experience bleached his scales white.

### *A Team Divided*

During Cole's time apart from the team after Zane's apparent death, Cole imagined Kai would react to his cooking by saying, "Even the Great Devourer wouldn't eat this junk!"

### Tournament of Elements

#### Only One Can Remain

Kai said that Clouse's pet was the second biggest snake he had ever seen, alluding to the colossal Great Devourer as the biggest.

#### The Forgotten Element

Master Chen kept a scale of the Great Devourer in his Hall of Fame. Garmadon also brought up the Devourer when he and Nya were about to be fed to Clouse's pet, he stated that he destroyed the largest snake so karma has ensured the second biggest snake would come after him.

### Skybound

#### The Last Resort

While hiding from Nadakhan and the Sky Pirates, Nya suggested that Jay could wish for the Great Devourer to be brought back while thinking of what Jay can use his last wish on.

### *Wu-Cru* (non-canon)

At one point, Lloyd discovered that Pythor and Fangtom intended to use Dark Matter to transform into the Great Devourer.Template:Clarify

### The Hands of Time

#### Secrets Discovered

Skales revealed to the ninja that the Vermillion warriors were in fact the first-generation progeny of the Great Devourer.

#### Pause and Effect

Ray mentioned Krux's use of the Great Devourer's eggs as part of his decades-long plan.

### Sons of Garmadon

#### Game of Masks

After hearing Lord Garmadon was the one that defeated the Devourer, Harumi set out to resurrect Garmadon to exact vengeance on the ninja for their poor efforts to stop the Devourer.

#### Big Trouble, Little Ninjago

Ultimately, Harumi's actions allowed Lord Garmadon to create the Colossus, which wreaked havoc on Ninjago City in a similar fashion to what the Devourer did - even down to both of them destroying a version of the *Destiny's Bounty*.

### Crystalized

#### Darkness Within

When Lloyd learns his friends are seemingly dead, Harumi tells him that she knows how it feels to have no one left, having experienced it after the Great Devourer killed her parents. Lloyd starts yelling at her that she's the reason he has no one left, making her no better than the Devourer.

#### Dragon Form

While brutally electrocuting Lloyd and Garmadon, the Overlord reveals he possessed the Great Devourer ages ago, in order for it to corrupt Garmadon into a vessel for the Overlord's eventual return. A horrified Harumi hears this, and attacks the Overlord in a bid to avenge her parents.

## Abilities

> You're playing with a power that cannot be controlled. It will consume everything, even the Serpentine!
>
> Wu to Pythor, "The Rise of the Great Devourer"

* **Insatiable appetite/extreme consumption:** The Great Devourer had an insatiable appetite and the ability to consume anything that it came across.
	+ **Size increase:** Whenever it consumed something, it grew larger and more powerful. The ninja noticed that it would have been truly unstoppable if allowed to consume the bustling metropolis of Ninjago City.
* **Venom:** The Devourer's venom was capable of bringing inanimate objects to life and could corrupt the purest individuals into wrathful megalomaniacs against their will, such as the case of Garmadon.
* **Massive size:** In combat, the Great Devourer normally used its tremendous size to its advantage.
* **Strong tail:** The Great Devourer has a very strong tail that it was able to use to break the Ultra Sonic Raider.
* **Superhuman durability:** The Great Devourer possessed nigh-invulnerability that allowed it to continuously devour the buildings of Ninjago City without being stopped by the Elemental Powers.
* **Superhuman Endurance and Stamina**: The monstrous snake proved as vulnerable to the music as the Serpentine had, but it managed to disable the Raider's sonic cannons with its tail before the ninja could completely pacify it.
* **Intelligence:** The Devourer seemed to display a sense of tactical thought, tricking both the ninja and the Ultra Dragon into thinking they had either defeated or escaped it, only to suddenly ambush them when their guard was lowered.
* **Superhuman speed:** Despite its massive size, the Devourer was also incredibly fast and had the ability to burrow through the ground with ease.
* **Nigh-Immortality:** It had been alive for millennia at the time of its death.

## Relationships

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### Family

* Machia (daughter)
* Blunck (son)
* Raggmunk (son)
* Slackjaw (son)
* Rivett (daughter)
* Tannin (son)
* Vermin (son)

### Allies

* The Overlord
* Serpentine (formerly)

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### Enemies

* Ninja
* Sons of the First Spinjitzu Master
* People of Ninjago

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## Official description

*This is the snake that bit Garmadon as a child and infected him with evil from its venom. After many years the snake grew up to become a huge monster that almost destroyed Ninjago City.*

## Behind the scenes

* According to Tommy Andreasen, the Great Devourer was supposed to be present during the Serpentine War shown in "Spellbound," presumably in place of the Anacondrai serpent.
* Tommy Andreasen confirmed the Great Devourer is female, as she laid the Vermillion eggs.
	+ The *Character Encyclopedia,* a story from the LEGO site, and the Overlord's line in "Dragon Form" have used masculine pronouns for the Devourer. However, seeing as Season 7 and Andreasen confirmed it to be female after this, this was either a mistake caused by miscommunication or the Devourer was intended to be male at first but was retconned in Season 7.
* Tommy Andreasen confirmed the Great Devourer had a mother.
* According to Tommy Andreasen, the Great Devourer was a snake with a mutation, and it's possible some of the Vermillion could carry this mutation as well.

## Trivia

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* The Great Devourer has only appeared in one LEGO set, 9450 Epic Dragon Battle. Physically, it bears more resemblance to the young Devourer seen in Master Wu's flashback in "Tick Tock," and it is significantly smaller than the Devourer seen in the show—in fact, it appears to be approximately the size of the statue in Ouroboros' Slither Pit.
* Its set appearance is recolored and used for the Ice Serpent in *Shadow of Ronin*.
* In one of the supplementary *Ninjago* comics, it is implied that the Overlord was responsible for creating the Great Devourer by corrupting a snake with darkness, thus the Overlord might be responsible for turning Garmadon evil in the first place. This theory was confirmed to be true in "Dragon Form," in which the Overlord revealed that he corrupted the Great Devourer so the events that occurred because of the incident could happen.
* The ninja immobilize the Great Devourer by tricking it into biting it own tail. This is another reference to *ouroboros*, the concept of cyclical events and entities, often depicted as a snake eating its own tail.
	+ The Devourer is also one of the largest animals seen in the series, the others being Tiger Widow, Crabby, Beohernie, and Ice bird.
* The Great Devourer's true relationship to the Serpentine is unknown. It was considered a ruler and goddess of the Serpentine, but they immediately hid in fear of it when it was released, as they were avoiding the considerable threat of being eaten.
* According to Kai in "The Rise of the Great Devourer," the Four Silver Fangblades were made from the original teeth of the Great Devourer.
* The Great Devourer's abilities and traits appear to be larger-scale versions of the Serpentine's tribal abilities. It has the Constrictai's rapid burrowing abilities, the Anacondrai's ability to swallow things whole, and the effects of its venom could be interpreted as a mixture of Hypnobrai hypnotism and the Fangpyre bite.
	+ Physically, the Devourer's green skin and tendency to secrete mass amounts of fluorescent green venom hearken back to the Venomari, but its long fangs resemble the Fangpyre and its pink eyes are similar to the Anacondrai.
	+ Also, according to *Tomb of the Fangpyre*, before darkness corrupted it, it was red with black and white stripes, which bears similarities to the Fangpyre, particularly Fangdam and Fangtom because of the stripes.
* The Great Devourer bears the most resemblance to the Venomari.
* The Great Devourer's ability to grow larger the more it consumes is similar to the video game concept of *Snake*, in which consuming a "dot" or "square" grows in length as the player controls the "growing snake" forward.
* The Great Devourer's young appearance resembles a Toxic Viper.
* Interestingly, as a child it had red eyes, while as an adult they are pink.
* The Great Devourer has tremendous influence throughout the series even after its demise in Season 1.
	+ In Season 2, its venom was responsible for reawaking the Stone Army after its death.
	+ In Season 4, it subtly acts as a source of internal conflict for Garmadon, as it was the Devourer's venom that corrupted Garmadon and caused him to make mistakes in his past, which connect to the present-day conflicts with Chen.
	+ In Season 7, it is the source of the Vermillion, the villainous faction of the season.
	+ In Season 8, the death of Harumi's parents caused by the Devourer is the driving motivation of Harumi resurrecting Garmadon.
	+ In Season 15, Harumi continues to be driven by the loss of her parents due to the Devourer and ultimately, the reveal that the Overlord was responsible for the Devourer's evil was the reason why Harumi betrayed him.

## Video

Teaser Ninjago The RideThe Great Devourer in a teaser for Ninjago: The Ride
## Gallery

### Promotional media

Greatdevourer.jpgGreat Devourer (LEGO model)The Great Devourer2.jpgThe Great Devourer in a 2012 LEGO commercialSeason 1 Rise of the Snakes Poster.jpgA version of the Great Devourer on a poster for Season 1: Rise of the SnakesKidGarmBitten.jpgLegoland-ninjago-the-ride-promo.jpgNinjago: The Ride at LEGOLANDNinjago 1m.jpgThe Great Devourer in the Rise of the Snakes muralGarmadon Cover B.jpgOn the cover of *Garmadon*Garmadon 4 Cover B.webp
### In *Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu*

#### Season 1: Rise of the Snakes

10Garmadonbitten.pngThe young Devourer after biting GarmadonMoS7GreatDevourer.pngThe face of the Great Devourer in Ninjago's pastDevourerStatue.pngThe statue honoring the Devourer in Ouroboros185px-Screen Shot 2012-02-11 at 6 15 25 PM.pngThe Serpentine gathering before the Great Devourer in a drawing on the wall of the Constrictai Tomb.Tgd2.jpgThe Great Devourer rises from the Lost City of Ouroboros29Devourer.png30GreatDevourer.png32Devourer.pngTgd4.jpg2Thedevourerarises.pngThe Great Devourer rising from OuroborosGreatdevourerlookingatninja.jpgThe Great Devourer stares down at the ninjaGreatDevourer.pngA shot of The Great Devourer's upper bodyThe Great Devourer (3).pngThe Great Devourer roars at the ninjaMoS13Holo.pngThe Great Devourer on a hologram.MoS13Bite.pngThe Great Devourer destroys the *Destiny's Bounty*7USRGreatdevourer.pngThe Great Devourer arrives at Ed and Edna's junkyard9Greatdevourertrain.pngThe Devourer in a subway tunnel10Edednadevourer.pngThe Devourer prepares to attack Ed and Edna's jalopy.14Ultradragondevourer.pngThe Great Devourer confronts the Ultra Dragon from atop a skyscraper.16Greatdevourerkai.pngThe Great Devourer approaches Kai17Greatdevourercole.pngThe Devourer pursues Cole18Greatdevourerjay.pngJay draws the Devourer's attention185px-Jayandzane.jpgThe Devourer lunges at Zane and Jay.MoS13Trapped.pngThe Great Devourer trapped.21Devourerouroboros.pngAn immobilized Great Devourer biting her own tail as Lord Garmadon prepares the final blow.
#### Season 3: Rebooted

DDefeatTale.pngThe people celebrate its initial defeat.
#### Season 10: March of the Oni

Rise of the Snakes.pngThe Great Devourer in the opening sequence.
#### Ninjago: Reimagined

2021-05-24 17 04 38-Greenshot.pngIn "Golden Hour"
### Concept art

CptDevourer.pngGreat Devourer concept.jpgThe LEGO NINJAGO Movie - The Great Devourer Battle (Concept Art).jpgIn concept art for *The LEGO Ninjago Movie*Great devourer set concept.webpSet concept

## References

1. ↑ "Dragon Form"
2. ↑ "Golden Hour"
3. ↑ "Tick Tock"
4. ↑ "The Curse of the Golden Master"
5. ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1532127488389914626
6. ↑ "The Rise of the Great Devourer"
7. ↑ "Secrets Discovered"
8. ↑ "Game of Masks"
9. ↑ *The Maze of the Sphinx*
10. ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/823277938950991872
11. ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/850980546276622336
12. ↑ His "[Pythor's] moment of triumph is short-lived—the first thing the Great Devourer does after his release is devour Pythor!" Page 159, *Character Encyclopedia*
13. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20151208074614/http://www.lego.com/en-us/ninjago/explore/story-4/chapter1
14. ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/857749688749043712
15. ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/923894183768809475
16. ↑ "The darkness touched the common snake with its power..." Page 31, *Tomb of the Fangpyre*

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