Kruncha

> "*They think they're so tough. Well, they wouldn't be so tough if they didn't have those Magic Weapons. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?!*"
> ― Kruncha to Nuckal.
>
>

**Kruncha** is a general of the Skulkin army, as well as a friend of Nuckal and the second-in-command of the Skulkin during Samukai's reign. Long ago, Kruncha was banished to the Underworld, where he became part of the Skulkin army and assisted his master, Samukai. Kruncha 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, Kruncha left the realm and tried adapting to life in Ninjago.

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, Kruncha and Nuckal regularly went to Yang Tavern to fight in Mezmo's Slither Pit matches. One fight involved Kruncha fighting Kai, with the Red Ninja quickly dismembering him. Kruncha soon tried bribing his opponents to lose on purpose, which resulted in him being thrown in Kryptarium Prison alongside Nuckal. Kruncha 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, Kruncha and Nuckal either escaped or were set free from Kryptarium, after which they kept trying to fit in with the people of Ninjago.

## History

### Background

At an unknown point in time, Kruncha was a warrior who died, and, unable to come to terms with death, was sent to the Underworld, becoming a Skulkin as a result. He would eventually become second-in-command to Samukai, with Nuckal acting as his partner.

When Garmadon arrived in the Underworld and usurped Samukai's title, Kruncha became subservient to him and was eventually assigned to participate in the hunt for the Golden Weapons.

### The Last Voyage (flashback)

Kruncha and Nuckal assisted Samukai in reviving Dr. Julien and making 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 to 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. Kruncha became annoyed with his companion became distracted with one of the samurai helmets, and the two quickly got into a fistfight 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, and ordered to capture Nya, Kruncha kidnapped her and drove off with Samukai.

### The Golden Weapon

Kruncha accompanied Samukai's forces to the Caves of Despair in search of the Scythe of Quakes. While there, he and Nuckal oversaw one of the conveyor belts until Jay alerted the skeletons to the ninja's presence. He then rallied behind Samukai and attacked the ninja, though was repelled back when the ninja unlocked Spinjitzu, eventually retreating upon the presence of the Earth Dragon.

### King of Shadows

Kruncha would continue participating in the Golden Weapon Hunt, going after the Nunchucks of Lightning in the Floating Ruins, but secretly feigning his efforts in anticipation of Garmadon's plan. Later, he ambushed the Jay, Cole, and Zane at the Forest of Tranquility alongside his fellow Skulkin, tauntingly waving Cole's scythe at him as he was restrained. Celebrating victory over gaining three of the Golden Weapons, he was promptly warned by Garmadon of the Sword of Fire's presence back in the Underworld, prompting him to leave on the Skull Truck, but not before lecturing Nuckal on losing his weapon. However, he was attacked by the three ninja, with him and Nuckal attacking Cole during the ride back. Eventually, he succeeded in repelling them, and as the three ninja were thrown off, he was transported back to 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 skulkin 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, much to his frustration and humiliation.

### Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Kruncha was present when the ninja witnessed the invasion of Ignacia. Stealing the Map of the Golden Weapons as normal, his involvement in the timeline was disrupted when, upon trying to kidnap Nya, he was knocked out by the future Garmadon from behind, and as a result of his failure, he was forced to retreat on Samukai's orders. Even as he rode back to the Underworld, he was reprimanded by his leader. Later, setting up camp and horsing around at a campfire, Kruncha was again lectured for his failure, but disinterested in Garmadon's campaign, Kruncha wandered off into the woods by himself. However, he stumbled across a tied-up Nya, and though initially perplexed by the phenomenon, quickly reported it to his master. Later, he presumably clashed with the future Jay over the three Golden Weapons at the Forest of Tranquility, only to fail.

Following the destruction of the Mega Weapon, the events of the ninja's time travel were erased, with Kruncha's kidnapping of Nya going on unchanged.

### The New Masters of Spinjitzu

Frustrated over their losses, Kruncha decided to personally steal the Golden Weapons alongside Nuckal, sneaking into the Monastery of Spinjitzu and succeeding in the theft. Upon celebrating their seemingly invincible status upon arriving in the monastery's courtyard, they accidentally activated its training course, even as the Golden Weapons rebelled against them, subjecting them to various rounds of uncontrolled, chaotic Spinjitzu. Realizing the two of them weren't worthy, Kruncha and Nuckal restored the Golden Weapons back to their rightful places and on the ride home blamed Nuckal for the terrible idea, prompting the two argue violently.

### Return to the Fire Temple

Venturing back into Ninjago once more, Kruncha and Nuckal returned to the Fire Temple entrance to the Underworld, only to discover it sealed up by a cave-in. Coming to the conclusion that it had been caused by Nuckal leaving the stove on, the two argued violently over whose fault it was.

Sometime afterwards, Kruncha and Nuckal eventually became substitute teachers at Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys.

### Never Trust a Snake

While teaching the students, Kruncha was ambushed by a vengeful Lloyd and Pythor, who held him, the rest of the staff, and students hostage in order to lure the ninja. Being discovered by the ninja, he and Nuckal were freed in return for staying away from Ninjago, promptly fleeing, though ultimately failing to honor their end of the bargain.

Eventually, he and Nuckal quit their jobs as substitute teachers in protest to the school's reforms.

### Tick Tock

While hanging around near Mystake's tea shop, playing rock-paper-scissors with Nuckal, the two were scared off by an approaching Master Wu.

### The Royal Blacksmiths

Kruncha later participated as an audience member for the Royal Blacksmiths performance, cheering for the Serpentine's performance and later jeering at the ninja.

### All of Nothing

Being confronted by his nemesis Garmadon, he was told of the Serpentine's plot to awaken the Great Devourer, and motivated by his dislike of the snakes and their worshipped serpent, rallied the Skulkin army to fight the snakes in the Serpentine's underground fortress. The two challenged Skales together, Nuckal acting as a distraction while Kruncha knocked out the Hypnobrai general from behind. When the ninja succeeded in taking the Fangblades, Kruncha rooted on the ninja by crying their catchphrase while he stayed behind to continue battling the Serpentine.

### Day of the Great Devourer

Later, he and Nuckal went on to participate in the Take Back Ninjago Rally at Ninjago City. However, when the Great Devourer attacked, he was forced to flee alongside the citizens from the beast.

### Ninjaball Run

Excited by the Ninjaball Run Race, Kruncha and Nuckal took part, driving the Skull Truck. Racing across Ninjago, the two of them succeeded in staying in the race for the main duration, only to come into conflict at Birchwood Forest with Lloyd, who was riding the Ultra Dragon and assisting the ninja with his bird's eye view. Deciding to sabotage the two competitors, he and Nuckal succeeded in using the truck's fist launcher to drag Lloyd and the dragon down; However, the chain snagged onto one of the trees, causing the Skull Truck to whirl around and crash, leading him and Nuckal to blame each other and fight.

### The Invitation

During Kai's final round of his slither pit tournament, he faced off against Kruncha, who had likewise advanced, only to be soundly defeated by the ninja's Fire Spinjitzu, ironically being the one to be reprimanded by Nuckal this time.

### After The Invitation

At some point afterwards, in an attempt to gain fame, Kruncha bribed his opponents to lose on purpose, but in his overconfidence he failed to pay them back. As a result, his opponents notified the police, who arrested Kruncha and brought him to Kryptarium Prison.

### The Greatest Fear of All

Kruncha was among the inmates of Kryptarium Prison, angrily yelling at the ninja as they visit Pythor. While yelling a threat at the ninja, Warden Noble casually dismisses him, all while mistakenly referring to him as Frakjaw. 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 afterwards, he and Nuckal eventually succeeded in leaving Kryptarium as a result of good behavior or they just escaped.

### *The New Ninja* (non-canon)

Enraged over not being cast as the lead alongside his partner, Kruncha started a riot amongst the cast, alongside them demanding better pay, food, etc., and helping contribute to the chaos in the studio. When Nya arrived on the D.B. Express Flyer, he and Nuckal hijacked the machine and flew off, taunting her as she chased after them, causing chaos throughout the streets of New Ninjago City. However, upon flying near the coast, he and Nuckal were dragged into the ocean by Nya using her powers. Despite his initial dismay, Dareth revealed he had filmed the whole chase, leading him and Nuckal to celebrate over achieving their dreams of becoming movie stars.

## Relationships

### Allies

* Skulkin
	+ Samukai † - Former Superior
	+ Nuckal - Best Friend
* Mezmo - Former Enemy

### Enemies

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

## Personality

The brutish second-in-command of the Skulkin army, Kruncha is short-tempered with a generally bad attitude. Prone to violence, he was possibly the only Skulkin to foresee Garmadon's betrayal, having kept a severe distrust of him from the very beginning. However, he also secretly holds a secret respect for Cole, due to their identical roles in their respective factions. In times of frustration, Kruncha resorts to childlike gestures of anger. He is also loyal to the Skulkin army, with this resulting in his eventual promotion as the leader of the Under World in the wake of Samukai's destruction, and constantly has to work to keep his fellow Skulkin in line, lest he be left inside the Underworld for a long time.

Arguably being the smartest Skulkin, save his late master Samukai, Kruncha was a disciplined leader, often looking after his troops, though when serving another he didn't respect could be understandably lax about following orders himself, having cared little for capturing Nya for Garmadon after failing in the alternate timeline. Kruncha, due to his role and greater intelligence was easy to be left exasperated, constantly having to set his more dimwitted skeletons in line and in the proper directions, especially due to their excitement over returning to the world of the living. He also takes a great amount of pride due to his status amongst the Skulkin, which was greatly bolstered upon his coronation as King of the Underworld, and likewise developed a bit of an ego as a result, especially when participating in Mezmo's Slither Pit tournaments.

## Physical appearance

He has a large head and a gray helmet. In his minifigure, he has a gray monocle; however, in the *Ninjago* TV show, he does not. His belt is gray on his minifigure and red in the TV show.

The details on his 2019 figure is much closer to his TV show appearance, with a red belt, missing tooth, and no monocle.

## Appearances

* 2507 Fire Temple
* 2508 Blacksmith Shop
* 2521 Lightning Dragon Battle
* 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* 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* *LEGO Ninjago: Spinjitzu Scavenger Hunt* (non-canon)
* *LEGO Ninjago: Tournament* (non-canon)
* *LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin* (non-canon)

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

## Trivia

* He is considered the general of Earth 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.
	+ He has more connections to Fire in the TV series, as he wields the Sword of Fire and accidentally does Fire Spinjitzu in "The New Masters of Spinjitzu", and his belt is red in the TV series, matching Samukai and Frakjaw who were associated with Fire outside of the show.
* His appearance in the show is different from his appearance in the sets:
	+ His belt is red in the show, but it is gray in the sets. This was fixed in their Legacy appearance.
	+ His helmet is dark gray in the show, but light gray in the sets.
	+ He has a monocle on his right eye in the sets, but does not have it in the show.
	+ He has brown straps on the bones on his shoulders in the show, but they are black in the sets.
	+ The spikes on his shoulders are black in the show, but they are gray in the sets.
	+ He is missing one of his teeth in the show, but he has it in the sets.
		- This difference between his show and set appearances does not apply to his 2019 Legacy Variant, in which he no longer has a monocle, is missing a tooth, and wears a red belt.
* He and Nuckal were substitute teachers at Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys.
* In the *Official Guide*, he is mistakenly given Nuckal's description.
* According to the *Official Guide*:
	+ He was challenged to a battle with Frakjaw and Krazi, though he soundly defeated the two on his own.
	+ He failed to trust Garmadon, suspecting his involvement in their realm's affairs would prove to be the downfall of the Skulkin.
* In "The Greatest Fear of All," he was called "Frakjaw" by Warden Noble.
* His name is based on the word "crunch." Crunch was also his original name.
* He is voiced by Brian Drummond, who also voices Nuckal.
* He has been one of the only two Skulkin generals to drive the Skull Truck in the show, the other being Samukai.
* Kruncha shares some similarities with Cole.
	+ He is the Skulkin general of Earth (in the sets), and Cole is the Ninja of Earth.
	+ He is best friends with the most comical of the Skulkin generals, Nuckal, and Cole's best friend is Jay, the most comical of the ninja.
		- Kruncha and Cole serve as a more grounded foil to Nuckal and Jay, respectively.
		- Nuckal and Jay are both affiliated with the element of Lightning as Kruncha and Cole are with Earth.
* 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.
* "Double Trouble" is the only episode to feature Nuckal without Kruncha.
* He was rereleased in 70665 The Samurai Mech, with a black helmet, different legs, and a new mold for his head.
	+ His Legacy minifigure is the second *Ninjago* minifigure to have a Samurai X-style helmet without anything on the clip, the first being Karlof.
* A skull resembling a miniature version of Kruncha's is used as Soto's inkwell in "Pirates vs. Ninja" and the inkwell in Clouse's quarters seen in "Versus" and "Spy for a Spy."
* He likes being proved right. Being ignored is something he can't handle.

1. ↑ "Double Trouble"
2. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20151227182918/http://www.lego.com/en-us/ninjago/explore/story-6/chapter-4