Nuckal

> "*Don't worry about us! We'll keep fighting the good fight!*"
> ― Nuckal to the Ninja.
>
>

**Nuckal** is a general of the Skulkin army, as well as the best friend of Kruncha. He is hyperactive and crazy, making him the complete opposite of Kruncha, but by comparison, he is intelligent for a Skulkin. Long ago, Nuckal was banished to the Underworld, where he became part of the Skulkin army and assisted his master, Samukai. Nuckal aided the Skulkin in their quest to stop the ninja from claiming the Golden Weapons. While the Skulkin managed to take the weapons, Samukai's attempt to keep them from Lord Garmadon resulted in his demise. As a result, Garmadon escaped into Ninjago to cause chaos. Shortly after, Nuckal left the realm alongside Kruncha and tried adapting to life in Ninjago.

Nuckal and Kruncha made numerous attempts to fit in with the people of Ninjago—substituting in a boarding school, participating in the Ninjaball Run, and helping Garmadon and the Skulkin to fight the Serpentine. Eventually, Nuckal and Kruncha regularly went to Yang Tavern to fight in Mezmo's Slither Pit matches. After Kruncha tried bribing his opponents to lose on purpose, he and Nuckal were thrown in Kryptarium Prison. Nuckal would fight the ninja when No-Eyed Pete accidentally unlocked all the jail's cells, though he was soon put back in his place. At some point later, Nuckal and Kruncha either escaped or were set free from Kryptarium, after which they kept trying to fit in with the people of Ninjago.

## History

### The Last Voyage (flashback)

Nuckal and Kruncha went with Samukai to revive Dr. Julien and make him build vehicles for their army.

### Way of the Ninja

Nuckal and Kruncha accompanied Samukai and several Lightning Skulkin in attacking Four Weapons Blacksmith in search for the Map of the Golden Weapons. While Kai and Nya were distracted by the foot soldiers, the two generals snuck into the store to search for the map. Nuckal became distracted with one of the samurai helmets and quickly got into a fistfight with Kruncha after each accused the other of not looking hard enough. Their fight however caused a chain reaction of destruction around the shop, eventually revealing the map which the generals claimed. The two retreated to the Skull Truck where they were ordered to capture Nya and left to the Underworld with her.

### The Golden Weapon

Nuckal accompanied Samukai's forces to the Caves of Despair in search of the Scythe of Quakes. While there, he and Kruncha oversaw one of the conveyor belts and notices a rock that is shaped like a donut. Thinking it is a real donut due to its shape, he bites hard on it, breaking his teeth. He continued to keep searching until Jay alerted the skeletons to the ninja's presence. He then rallied behind Samukai and attacked the ninja, though he was forced to retreat when the ninja unlocked Spinjitzu.

### King of Shadows

Nuckal was part of Samukai's forces that followed the ninja to the Floating Ruins, though they managed to escape with the Nunchucks of Lightning. That night, Nuckal and the other Skulkin ambushed the ninja in the Forest of Tranquility, stole the three Golden Weapons, and escaped into the Underworld.

### Weapons of Destiny

Upon returning to the Underworld, Kruncha and Nuckal were put in charge of guarding the entrance of the fortress as they anticipated the arrival of the ninja. As predicted, the ninja eventually arrived and the skulking closed in around them. However, the ninja used the Tornado of Creation to turn the fortress into a giant Ferris wheel, trapping Kruncha and Nuckal in one of the cars.

### Wrong Place, Wrong Time

In the timeline where Garmadon traveled back to the Skulkin's attack at the blacksmith shop, Nuckal saw two versions of Kai when he and Kruncha left the shop after retrieving the map, which confused Nuckal. He later told the Skulkin about this, indirectly informing Garmadon that the ninja had followed him back in time.

After the Mega Weapon was destroyed, these events were erased.

### The New Masters of Spinjitzu

Kruncha and Nuckal decided to steal the ninja's Golden Weapons while they are sleeping. However, they would lose control of their Spinjitzu powers, hurting themselves in the progress. After returning the weapons, they went back to the Underworld, arguing that it was a bad idea.

### Return to the Fire Temple

Returning to the temple, Kruncha and Nuckal argued about whoever left the stove on.

### Never Trust a Snake

He is a substitute teacher at Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys with Kruncha, tied up with a rope thanks to Lloyd's revenge scheme with the help of Pythor.

### Tick Tock

Nuckal was playing a round of rock-paper-scissors with Kruncha but ran away when Wu approaches them to get to Mistaké's tea shop.

### The Royal Blacksmiths

He appeared with Kruncha cheering the Serpentine's performance and jeering the ninja.

### All of Nothing

Nuckal and Kruncha arrive in the Serpentine's Underground Fortress with the rest of the Skulkin to fight the Serpentine. The two Generals take on Skales together, Nuckal flailing about and babbling to distract the Hypnobrai General while Kruncha sneaks behind him to strike.

### Day of the Great Devourer

He and Kruncha partake in the Take Back Ninjago rally.

### Double Trouble

Nuckal had his cotton candy stolen by Bizarro Cole.

### Ninjaball Run

Kruncha and Nuckal participate in the Ninjaball Run competition using a Skull Truck. While they were successful in taking out Lloyd, though, they crash in the Glacier Barrens.

### The Invitation

When Kai became a fighter in underground slither pits, he defeated Kruncha before rejoining the ninja. Nuckal then took the chance of telling off the beheaded Kruncha by kicking his head. Shortly afterwards, he was arrested and thrown in Kryptarium Prison.

### The Greatest Fear of All

Nuckal was among the inmates of Kryptarium Prison. He went on to witness the fake Anacondrai attack, and after No-Eyed Pete opened the cell doors, escaped to wreak havoc. However, he was ultimately placed back into his cell.

Sometime afterward, he and Kruncha eventually succeeded in leaving Kryptarium as a result of good behavior or they just escaped.

## Relationships

### Allies

* Skulkin
	+ Samukai † - Former Superior
	+ Kruncha - Best Friend
* Mezmo - Former Enemy and Former Fellow Prisoner

### Enemies

* Garmadon - Former Master
* Wu - Temporary Ally
* Dr. Julien †
* Ninja - Temporary Allies
	+ Kai
	+ Jay Walker
	+ Cole
	+ Zane
	+ Nya
	+ Lloyd Garmadon
* Serpentine
	+ Anacondrai
		- Pythor
	+ Hypnobrai
		- Skales
		- Slithraa
		- Rattla
	+ Fangpyre
		- Fangtom
		- Fangdam
		- Snappa
		- Fang-Suei
	+ Venomari
		- Acidicus
		- Lizaru
		- Spitta
		- Lasha
	+ Constrictai
		- Skalidor
		- Bytar
		- Chokun
		- Snike
* Great Devourer †
* Noble

## Physical appearance

Nuckal has a large head with spikes and a metal patch bolted over one eye. He is the only general to not have the elite bone armor.

## Weapons

He is seen wielding the Golden Double-Bladed Bone Axe on the official Ninjago website, though in *Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu*, he typically uses a Silver Dark Blade.

## Appearances

* 2504 Spinjitzu Dojo
* 2518 Nuckal's ATV
* 3856 Ninjago (microfigure)
* 70665 The Samurai Mech (Legacy)

*Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu*
Pilot episodes* 1. "Way of the Ninja"
* 2. "The Golden Weapon"
* 3. "King of Shadows"
* 4. "Weapons of Destiny"

Mini-movies* 3. "The New Masters of Spinjitzu"
* 5. "Return to the Fire Temple"

Season 1: Rise of the Snakes* 4. "Never Trust a Snake"
* 7. "Tick Tock"
* 9. "The Royal Blacksmiths"
* 11. "All of Nothing"
* 13. "Day of the Great Devourer"

Season 2: Legacy of the Green Ninja* 16. "Double Trouble"
* 17. "Ninjaball Run"
* 19. "Wrong Place, Wrong Time"
* 23. "The Last Voyage" (flashback)

Season 4: Tournament of Elements* 35. "The Invitation"
* 43. "The Greatest Fear of All"

Tales from the Monastery of Spinjitzu* 6. "Samurai X-Treme" (painting)

Season 10: March of the Oni* 95. "The Darkness Comes" (painting)
* 98. "Endings" (painting)

Season 13: Master of the Mountain* 145. "Shintaro" (painting)

Season 14: Seabound* 165. "A Big Splash" (painting)

The Virtues of Spinjitzu* 1. "Curiosity" (painting)

Video games* *Spinjitzu Smash Party* (non-canon)
* *LEGO Ninjago: Spinjitzu Scavenger Hunt* (non-canon)
* *LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin* (non-canon)

Graphic novels* *Ghost Ninja* (non-canon)

## Trivia

* Nuckal appeared in WILFilm's first proof of concept video for *Ninjago*, albeit with some differences in appearance and a voice more akin to Kruncha's.
* He is considered the Skulkin general of Lightning in promotional material and the *Ninjago Spinners* game, but this is non-canon, as the Skulkin do not have Elemental Powers in the TV series.
* His name is based on the word "knuckle," the bone within the hand.
	+ Concept names for him composed of "Crumble"*[citation needed]* and "Funnybones."
* In the episode "The Golden Weapon," he loses a tooth. However, two episodes later, his teeth appear to be normal once more, only for it to fluctuate yet again in "The New Masters of Spinjitzu," where two teeth are missing.
* He and Kruncha were substitute teachers at Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys.
* "Double Trouble" is the only episode to feature Nuckal without Kruncha.
* Nuckal is a playable character in *LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin*. He can be bought for 100,000 studs.
* In "The Invitation," either his and Kruncha's voices are switched, or their character models are.
	+ It may have been a mistake with the character models since the scene with the two shows Kruncha acting with Nuckal's characteristics.
* In the *Official Guide*, he is mistakenly given Kruncha's description.
* He is voiced by Brian Drummond, who also voices Kruncha.
* Nuckal shares some similarities with Jay.
	+ He is the Skulkin general of Lightning, and Jay is the Ninja of Lightning.
	+ He often doesn't think plans through, and Jay doesn't usually think his own plans through (a notable example would be in the episode "Stiix and Stones").
	+ His best friend is Kruncha, a more grounded foil to him, which is the same as Jay's best friend, Cole.
* Kruncha and Nuckal are seen booing the Take Back Ninjago rally in "Day of the Great Devourer" even though they should be in agreement with the rally, as they fought against the Serpentine and stated that "Everybody hates snakes" two episodes prior. This may be an error or an intentional detail to highlight Kruncha and Nuckal's noncommittal allegiance.
* There is a spinner in every 2011 set Nuckal appears in.
* He's the only Skulkin general whose spinner is not transparent. He's also the only general to have a lower ranker's armor.
* He is the only Skulkin to be missing an eye and also the only Skulkin with head spikes.
* He was re-released in 70665 The Samurai Mech, with new molds for his head, different legs, and taller spikes on his head, represented by a mohawk hairpiece.
	+ This makes his Legacy minifigure to be the fourth *LEGO Ninjago* minifigure to have a mohawk hairpiece, the first three being Eyezor, Mohawk, and Jet Jack.
* He loves causing mayhem, since he is known for his childish being. He dislikes being bored.

## References

1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20151227182918/http://www.lego.com/en-us/ninjago/explore/story-6/chapter-4
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1217155321321443329
3. ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/878642293472980993
4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeJ2V5oWVvU
5. ↑ *Character Encyclopedia Updated and Expanded*