Caves of Despair

*“Caves of Despair? We've been there. I don't remember seeing any tomb.”*

— Wu, "The Crooked Path"

The **Caves of Despair** were caverns made up several incredibly complex series' of tunnels, which formerly held the Scythe of Quakes and the Earth Dragon, and acted as Morro's unofficial grave. There are still miles of unexplored tunnels. As of "The Crooked Path," due to a chain eruption the Caves of Despair exploded, destroying everything inside and outside of them.

## History

### Years ago

While searching for the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master, Morro entered the Caves of Despair in his quest. However, he would end up getting trapped in a chamber filled with a kethanol geyser and was killed by the explosion, his soul being sent to the Cursed Realm while his deceased body remained in the Caves of Despair. Later, shortly after Garmadon's banishment, Master Wu hid the Scythe of Quakes in the Caves and placed the Earth Dragon there to guard it.

### The Golden Weapon

In search of the Scythe, Samukai began mining operations in the caves with several Skulkin. However, due to Nuckal misreading the map, their search was hindered as they began digging in the wrong places, allowing the ninja to sneak past them and retrieve the Scythe of Quakes. Shortly detecting the ninja's presence afterward, the Skulkin clashed with the ninja over the Scythe of Quakes, though both factions were forced to flee upon the arrival of the Earth Dragon.

### The Snake King

Cole attempted to one-up the mysterious samurai, who was fighting Serpentine in the Caves of Despair.

### *Shadow of Ronin* (non-canon)

In an attempt to regain their memories, the ninja sought out the Obsidian Scythe hidden within, only to be confronted by several Constrictai that had been brainwashed by Ronin. Defeating their controlled allies, the ninja succeeded in getting the Obsidian Scythe and restoring Cole's memories, before leaving.

### The Crooked Path

While the ninja were looking for the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master, Ronin, possessed by Morro, sent them a video claiming the Tomb was inside the Caves of Despair, with Ghoultar carving false symbols to fool the ninja. Falling for the trick, the ninja entered the Caves and eventually stumbled across Morro's corpse, besides a geyser of kethanol only for Ghoultar to seal them in the room. Even as the geyser began to build up for a massive explosion, the ninja managed to escape, traversing through a mine-cart rail system and destroying Ghoultar in the process. They eventually escaped with the help of R.E.X., even as the Caves of Despair detonated, overflowing with lava in the process.

## Description

*Hiding place of one of the Four Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu, the Scythe of Quakes. This was the first location to which the ninja traveled in search of the Golden Weapons. The caves are part of one of the largest mountains on NINJAGO Island and stretch for kilometers. Samukai ordered a Skeleton Army mining operation here in an effort to find the weapon, which resulted in the laying of railroad tracks, the carving of new tunnels and the construction of Skeleton Army watchtowers. The ninja succeeded in finding the Scythe first, but it was guarded by an Earth Dragon. The creature eventually became Cole’s mount.*

## Geography

The caves were built into the side of one of Ninjago's largest mountains. A crater is carved out of it, and during Samukai's mining operations, several Skulkin watchtowers were constructed here.

Following the events of Possession, they were completely destroyed in a massive kethanol geyser explosion caused by Cole.

## Animal Life

* Earth Dragon (formerly; deceased)
* Burning Snakes
* Wicked Spiders
* Rockslide Bats

## Vegetation

* Mushyrooms
* Pop-Rock-Corn
* Lime Stones

## Areas

* Mud Slide
* Snake Scale Wall
* Skeleton Mining Area
* Lost Lost Tunnel
* Maze of Doom
* Earth Dragon's Cave

## Appearances

### *Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu*

#### Pilot episodes

* 1. "Way of the Ninja" (pictured)
* 2. "The Golden Weapon"

### Video games

* *Spinjitzu Smash!* (non-canon)
* *Spinjitzu Smash Party* (non-canon)
* *LEGO Ninjago: The Final Battle* (non-canon)
* *LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin* (non-canon)

## Trivia

* The Caves of Despair are the only location for the Golden Weapons that is confirmed to be destroyed.

## Gallery

***This section is a stub. You can help expand this section by adding some information.***
## Translations

 German
 Polish
 Russian

## References

1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160919144631/http://www.lego.com/en-us/ninjago/characters/morro-season-5-a936f87eb5614a1db9d9b2aaaec3f8d1
2. ↑ "Grave Danger"
3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160806083311/http://www.lego.com/en-us/ninjago/accessories/locations/caves-of-despair-season-0-3eacfccc1b5742afb98eac6f45b68976

**Jungles and forests**: Birchwood Forest · Blackwood Forest · Forest of Tranquility · Glimwillow Woods · Hiroshi's Labyrinth · Jankikai Jungle · Primeval's Eye · Toxic Bogs · Uncharted jungle · Vermillion Swamps · Wildwood Forest

**Mountains, caves and canyons**: **Caves of Despair** · Corridor of Elders · Crashcourse Canyon · Crystal Caves · Dungeons of Shintaro · Echo Canyons · Firstbourne's nest · Floating Ruins · Geckle Strong-Cave · Golden Peaks · Hollow's Bluff · Ice Cave · Haunted Hill · Mala-Wojira · Mines of Shintaro · Mino Pit · Mount of Eternal Shadows · Mountain of a Million Steps · Mountain of Madness · Mountains of Impossible Height · Munce Home-Cave · No Man's Bluff · Rock-Bottom · Samurai X Cave · Shintaro Mountain · Story cave · Tallest mountain of Ninjago · The Teeth · Torchfire Mountain · Wailing Alps

**Tombs and graveyards**: Anacondrai Tomb · Cemetery of Souls · Constrictai Tomb · Fangpyre Tomb · Graveyard of ships · Hypnobrai Tomb · Lost Tomb of Impending Peril · Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master · Tomb of the Stone Army · Venomari Tomb

**Water areas**: Black River · Boiling Sea · Endless Sea · Frozen pond · Hollow's Trench · Lightning Lagoon · Northern Ocean · River of Darkness · Shadow Bay · Spirit Coves · Tartarus Trench

**Islands**: Ninjago · Chen's Island · Dark Island · Dyer Island · Glacial Glacier · Glacier Island (non-canon) · Island of the Keepers · Lighthouse Island · Squawk Island · Tiger Widow Island

**Deserts**: Desert of Doom · Sea of Sand

**Other**:
 **Buildings and establishments**

**Stores and establishments**: Benny's Arcade Emporium · Biker Tavern · Borg Industries · Borg Store · Buddy's Pizza · Chan's Theater · Concert Hall · Dairy Dragon · Dareth's TV studio · Darnagom Enterprises · Ed & Edna's Scrap N Junk · Explorer's Club · Four Weapons Blacksmith · Fur Mart · Garbage depot · Gas station · Geckle courthouse · Grand Sensei Dareth's Mojo Dojo · Kai's dojo · Kiddie Arcade · Kryptarium Prison (Cell one) · Laughy's · Library of Domu · Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts · Mystake's Tea Shop · Ninjago City Aquarium · Ninjago City Bank · Ninjago City Hall · Ninjago City Hospital · Ninjago City Police Station · Ninjago City Prison · Ninjago Doomsday Comix · Ninjago Harbor · Ninjago Metro · Ninjago Museum of History · Ninjago Park · Noodle factory · Repo yard · Ronin's pawn shop · Serpentine library · Steep Wisdom · Steeper Wisdom (non-canon) · Storm Farms · Twitchy Tim's gas station · Vast Industries · Dance class · Wong's Costume · Wu's Academy · Yang Tavern

**Houses and apartments**: Cliff Gordon's estate · Dareth's apartment · First Spinjitzu Master's house · Hero's Suite · Sally's farm · The Mechanic's headquarters · Vermillion Dome of Doom

**Other**:
 ***Prime Empire***
 **Realms**
 **Other**
 ***The LEGO Ninjago Movie* locations**