Fugidove Ninjago - Tumblr Posts

Fugi-Dove Headcanons

My little pigeon feeding blorbo has been selected for my nightly brain rot. More information about my thoughts below the cut!

Bear with me, it has been a few years since I last revisited S11. Fugi-dove is a forming and human hybrid, ending up with him being a little bit silly in the mind. For most physical qualities they go back to human roots and mental/(ig) spiritual are more formling aligned. There are few execptions like the small fluffy tuffs/markings along his cheeks. His formling qualities are garnered from his mother, a formling who had been brought to Ninjago via the Master of Ice before Zane. She was tasked with watching over the new master in hopes that the powers would be in good hands, that no harm would be brought upon them due to the new abilities. Her form was the falcon who had inspired Dr. Julien to create the robotic one later with Zane's life as something that would hold great symbolism within his life, and something that he could use to all ways remember him. The reason behind bringing a formling into Ninjago, and how even did that happen!? In this head canon the Master of Ice knew that since he bore no offspring that his element would find a new master though they chose to manually transmit the power as it would be randomized anyways once he departs from this realm. Since he is completely randomizing who he gives the gifts too he brings the formling in order to make sure that once the power is obtained the right stands remain in good morals. The reason behind the formling is partially because of the way of watching over them in plain sight, and knowing that the FSM distanced himself from the Never-Realm, the Master of Ice being the first to not blood related transmit the element, made this in a way that his acts could not be rather noticed and frowned upon within the departed realm. The ability of bring Fugi-dove's mother is unknown though most likely had some connection with the elemental power of ice and the Never-realm being a flat land of ice and snow.

The reason behind the acceptance of the offer relates to how in the animated scenes/episodes of S11, we see the leader of the formlings have some sort of eagle as their creature. Fugi-dove's mother is the sibling of them and was rather regarded rather poorly compared to her brother who seemed to a wish upon a falling star, leaving the formling village although in the slightest bit painful to cut ties was nothing much and a new start in Ninjago sounded like a ticket to a new life. Falcon formling fell in love, had a child, had a another, and bam modern S11. Since the Falcon held symbolism with Zane, so does/was Fugi-dove. Seeing as he appears to be within the Ice-Chapter, his sole appearance is to symbolize Zane's change of becoming the Ice Emperor and going to the Never-Realm. Where his mother was to represent the past he is too showcase the future, sort of. His pure curiosity and friendship towards Jay is mostly reasoned (in my opinion) with that he has a stronger connection and lead towards Echo (Zane) as he was not directly tasked watch over the ice elemental descendants. Jay had gone through Skybound and uncovered Echo's existence instilling the oathly connection that run's through the formling blood within Fugi-dove's veins. With Skybound and the final wish washing that timeline away, it screws up the connection and leaves the only him with the one-sided connection towards Jay but for an unknown reason. His formling gene's are showcased with his connections to doves, the creature that he would be able to shift into if he had been pure blood. Though he also has a bit more meek connection with other birds, pigeons and seagulls he enjoys to hang out and feed regarding their place in the social class of animal kingdom and how he feels about himself and his rank in the social classes. In addition to the fact that seagulls guard Echo's lighthouse out at a sea. What was your main though process behind all of this? The formling hats and Fugi-dove's mask look oddly similar in a way I will base my connection with them.

I have no experience in linguistics but this post is amazing and I’d like to take my best shot at continuing it—

Morro

Comes from Classical Ninjargon slang typically found in books from the region around Styx, the term is a pun on “Soaring Wind” / “Sorrowful Breeze”, both of which could be spelt as “Moraura”. Some claim the word origin goes further back to the phrase “Sacer Mortronar” found in old coastline shrines thought to be dedicated to the history of Wojira. The phrase translates to “Sacred Tornado” and may be a regional name for either the First Spinjitzu Master or Wojira; scholars are unsure as they have yet to find more evidence that hasn’t been washed away by the corrosion of these shrines by time, sea, and wind

PIXAL

While her name is an acronym of “Primary Interactive eX-ternal Assistant Life-form”, the word pixal/pixel had a different meaning in Classical Ninjargon than its modern technological counterpart. In bare translation, it becomes “solution of happiness”, though used in context it has been translated as “my solution of happiness” or “my happiness”.

- Likewise, the word “Sentry” is derived both from the Modern Ninjargon word for sentinel and from the Classical Ninjargon word meaning “guardian of my settlement” or “my sentiment” depending on the translation. As a name, it often refers to the positive emotions of sentimentality

Skylor

In one dialect of Ancient Ninjargon, often found across some of the smaller islands surrounding Ninjago as part of an ancient trade empire, Skylor isn’t so much of a name as it is a possessive adjective and noun. It translates to “my power” or “my skyless power”, a phrase that revers to power without limit. Master Chen likely chose this name to reflect Skylor as an extension of his power.

Another dialect, however, has a different meaning to the word. Scriptures found in lower regions of the continent reveal the Classical Ninjargon phrase of “Sky latru pator”, meaning “skyless potential” or “potential that knows no limits”. The name Skylor is arguably derived from these meanings, and this is likely the version Skylor’s mother chose.

Vania

In Classic Shintarian, Vania comes from the noun of “Vari”, meaning “peaks”, and the adjective of “Niable”, meaning “full of life”. In translation, it can mean “peaks full of life”. In Sky Folk culture, peaks are also seen as glimmers of hope and connection, as they peek over the cloud-line to join with the sky. To call someone Vania is to call them bubbly, full of life, and the embodiment of hope and connection.

Fugidove

While the word is a pun in modern Ninjargan, the origins of the name is surprisingly old. Some carvings found in the Shintaran region, some possibly fron Cloud Kingdom travellers or a sky-faring group of migratory bird-people, contain the ancient phrase “furo gi dove“. The translation reads as follows: “The one who traverses the open skies”, “the bird who traverses the open skies”, or “the one who traverses the open skies like a bird”.

The phrase may also be connected to the Ancient Ninjargon meaning for “gi”, which while referring to the manner of clothing, also carries the meaning of “protector of the last days”. Another translation argues it actually means “protector [that arises] in the final hour”, which would make the full translation “the one who traverses the skies to protect the last of days”.

Nelson

A popular name in smaller villages across Ninjago, the name comes from an old Elemental Master (the exact element they wielded has since been lost, though some suspect Wind or Time) that travelled across the outskirts defending villages from danger.

Harumi

The name ‘Harumi’ comes from the Classic Ninjargan root words for “joy, spring” and “forgiveness”. The name was once shared with an ancient empress with a sprawling garden that may have been mapped after Hiroshi’s Labyrinth. However, because of this garden said to hold untold secrets and riches, the name has occasionally cropped up as a code word in criminal underbellies that means “hidden power”.

Dareth

Deprived from the Classic Ninjargon word for “brown”

I might make more of these by request if y’all are interested

Okay, we've got height headcanons, face headcanons...but you know what we need? Name headcanons.

Okay, yes, I know, the ninja already have names. But their names originate from Earth cultures and Earth languages, which, uh, don't exist in Ninjago. Like!! The name 'Lloyd' is Welsh, but Wales isnt a place on the Ninjago map! And 'Zane' is German - but again, Germany doesn't exist in this fictional fantasy world either. How can Zane's name be German if Germany is nowhere on the Ninjago map?

Realistically I know this is because this show has painfully messy worldbuilding and they gave all the main characters simple European names that their young American audience would be able to easily identify and pronounce. BUT I love to overthink things so that's what I'm gonna do.

Logic would dictate that although their names have specific cultural contexts within our world, they have different contexts and origins within the world of the story. Their names would logically have some kind of different meaning in relation to the cultures, languages, and dialects that exist within Ninjago itself.

This is already canon, to some extent. The name 'Nya' already has a canon in-universe origin, with her being named after a legendary Merlopian hero - from this we can assume the name Nyad and its derivative Nya are Merlopian in origin. Which suggests the idea that the same is true for all the other characters as well, we just haven't gotten the chance to get backstories for their names yet. And there is so much untapped potential in exploring what their names could mean in-universe.

Here, I'll start with my own personal headcanons about the subject:

Most names in this series come from 'Classical Ninjargon', the ancient dialect that was spoken in the time of the FSM but gradually evolved into Modern Ninjargon, which is the dialect commonly spoken by the characters to this day. However, a lot of words, terms, and names still rely in some part on their classical roots.

'Kai' isn't really a name, so much as it is a noun. It's commonly used in the names of towns and villages. For example, Jamanakai Village. 'Kai' means 'shelter' - or, more specifically, 'a form of barrier or protection that defends against cold weather.' It's not a very common name to give to children, though, but it appears in the names of villages and settlements all across Ninjago. It seems fitting, considering the kind of person Kai is. His parents gave him that name as a reference to its more specific meaning. Shelter from the cold. During the Serpentine War, Ray and Maya's dreams of starting a family were what gave them comfort and kept them going. Kai wasnt just named as a shelter from the cold, but a shelter from despair as well.

Nya's name has its obvious origins - she was named after Nyad, the storybook hero who befriended whales and defeated Wojira. Nyad was also Merlopian, where her name means 'courage'. Likewise, Nya's name has similar connotations. Of course, Maya hadn't known that meaning when she named her child, as Merlopia was just a myth and its language much the same. She did know of the fairytale, though, and Maya's own mother had told her that story as a child, so she wanted to give her daughter a name that was meaningful in that same way.

'Jay' comes from a regional dialect of Classical Ninjargon that became prevalent in the Sea of Sands. The name itself originates from the term 'jairu', meaning "blessed storm." Some historians speculate the name goes back further than that, with the term 'jairu' originally meaning "Wojira's favor"...but there is much debate about that. Both Jay and Jairu are pretty popular names in the Sea of Sands. Jay was an unexpected but highly valued gift to Ed and Edna, just as a rainstorm is in a desert.

'Cole' was originally the word for earth/dirt, but over the centuries its frequent use in Classical poetry led to it acquiring a myriad of more specific meanings - 'solid foundation', 'stable ground', 'dependable and reliable', 'steady and unshaken amidst conflict', etc. The word itself has a lot of very poetic, very vivid interpretations, and when most people name their children 'cole', thats what they're referencing. But not Lily. No, she knew the name historically meant 'earth', and she wanted his name to be a pun. It was 100% intentional

'Zane' isnt so much a name as it is a colloquial term, from the Birchwood region. Even though the word has Classical roots, it still remains widely used in that region. The word 'zane', a noun, is in reference to the constant, unmelting snowcover that blankets the region year-round. In Classical Ninjargon the term means, "endlessly persevering" - but over time it became repurposed as their term for their endless snow. Dr. Julien always thought the snow was beautiful, and named his son after its remarkable endurance

Lloyd's name has an interesting history to it. In the time of the Stone Wars, when the FSM initially split Ninjago and sealed away the Overlord, the people of that era celebrated the occasion by turning it into a holiday. They called it "belloid", which Classically means "victory over darkness." Eventually a new tradition emerged where children who were born on the holiday were named after it - and so the name "lloyd" came to be. And although the holiday evolved and is now more commonly known as Festival Day (yes, thats a canon holiday), with its history and origins fading out of public awareness, the tradition still persists. But heres the catch: Lloyd wasnt born on that holiday. His dad's reasons for naming him Lloyd were twofold. First, because he made a promise to himself to resist the venom's corruption for the sake of his son, and the name "victory over darkness" served as a testament to that promise. And second, because 'lloyd' sounds like 'lord', and giving his child a pun name sounds exactly like something Garm would do

And of course, since the ninjas' rise to fame, they have inspired some increasingly popular baby names. 'Lloyd' has been the baby name of the year for four years in a row now, which is something the others tease him relentlessly for.