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The Fuchsia Ninja Theory

So this started as a crack concept & suddenly had evidence and now it’s spiralled into this whole thing so here we go.

Who is the Fuchsia Ninja? A one-off joke for the movie? A reference to Zane’s pink gi from S1? Or perhaps they’re hidden in plain sight...

I’ve seen a few different good theories/jokes. M!Morro, M!Chen the Cheerleader, a younger M!Dareth, the M!Mailman (we’ll get back to that later), but I have a different suggestion:

It’s someone new. Yet they’re seen in the movie.

Allow me to introduce Purple Jacket.

“But Imp!” you cry. “We see them in one scene in the entire movie when Lloyd walks off the bus and enters the school! Just because they wear a purple- not even fuchsia- jacket doesn’t mean they’re the Fuchsia Ninja!”

And you would be right, which was why this started as a joke. Originally I spotted them and found their reaction interesting (they take off their sunglasses as Lloyd passes, looking more surprised than hostile, before putting them back on and walking off without a care). 

But then I went back trying to see if they were in the shot of the school as the bus pulls in and the shot of the school when Lloyd walks off the bus and everyone looks at him. And I noticed something.

Specifically, someone. 

Or should I say somethree?

Three different purple-wearing sunglasses kids. Three. With the same/extremely similar hairstyle and slightly different clothing style, though all in purple (and a bonus Chen standing to the side, we’ll get back to him later).

Now, the simple answer is ‘animation budget’ or ‘animation error’. And to that I say, you’re right. But that’s the simple and boring answer. 

Now, the second answer would be triplets. And perhaps that would be the obvious answer, if it wasn’t for another odd detail. 

The scene above is when Lloyd steps off the bus (and I will note that he is last off, most likely because nobody else let him until everyone was out). Now let’s compare that to the scene directly before that: a shot of the school as the bus pulls in.

Notice something interesting? Two of the purple sunglasses kids are missing, and none are in the correct spot. Again, obvious answer is a. animation error and b. they move between the time it takes for Lloyd to get off the bus. After all, we see Chen standing with his skateboard waving to who we’ll call Skateboard Purple Kid. They both manage to move to the right side of the screen for the ‘Lloyd Garmadon just stepped off the bus, everybody look and freeze’ scene, which isn’t implausible but is really quick (plus Chen’s somehow already playing with a basketball, so maybe he does have some EM powers after all cough headcanon Amber cough his uncle being the mafia boss equivalent of Master Chen from S4 cough). 

That still doesn’t account for where Purple Jacket Kid (the one in the original photo at the top & the one standing at the school door entrance) and Purple Hoodie Kid (the one on the left side of the screen leaning on some friends) came from.

Now it’s possible Purple Jacket Kid just walked out of the school and Purple Hoodie Kid just walked in from the left side of the screen, but it’s still just... interesting how they seem to just appear. Very... sneakily. 

“Okay, that’s cool and all, Imp,” you say, probably bored but hopefully a little intrigued. “So which one is the Fuchsia Ninja?”

That’s the thing. It’s all of them. Why? Well, it boils down to one simple headcanon/theory:

The Element of Surprise can create clones/copies of themselves.

They can be everywhere and anywhere at once. Hear a mention of the elements of surprise? SURPRISE! A call for the Fuchsia Ninja? SURPRISE! Someone’s just looking down and could use a little cheering up? SURPRISE!

What better way to surprise people than by making copies that can spontaneous appear from everywhere and nowhere?

What better way than hiding in plain sight?

“You have my attention now, Imp,” you might say. Or maybe I’ve lost you, who knows. “So who are they and how do they fit in the world building other than going to Lloyd’s school?”

I’ll admit, the rest is just headcanons and theories. Speculation on M!verse counterparts we haven’t seen. 

You know how I mentioned the m!verse mailman as a joking suspect for the Fuchsia Ninja?

Well, what if he had the Element of Surprise at one point? After all, the news never sleeps, and the mailman is always, always on the job, and he always delivers.

So having the ability to make copies of yourself would certainly help...

Now about passing on his Element: our m!mailman realizes while the mail is important, Ninjago City needs another ninja. A neighbourhood ninja, someone to help with the everyday small issues so the Ninjaforce can focus on Garmadon. And then he notices his nieph (a gender-neutral term for niece/nephew because the Fuchsia Ninja uses they/them you can fight me on this) who’s living with him going around trying to help the neighbourhood as best they can. 

So he calls them to over to his mailroom one day and asks them if they would want his Elemental Power.

And thus the Fuchsia Ninja is born.

Now, there’s still one more piece to this puzzle. Because this parallel looks familiar- an uncle and their nieph who they care for, who is a ninja, with elemental powers involved. Wu and Lloyd. And while our Purple Jacket is closer to M!Morro’s age and parallel, we could still have the mailman adopt someone else.

And who better than M!Nelson, the purple ninja?

And so you get the found family of the M!Mailman, the Fuchsia Ninja, and M!Nelson.

Side note, M!Nelson is stoked when he finds out his sibling is actually the Fuchsia Ninja and that he has not one, not two, not three, but essentially a small army of siblings. Purple Jacket Kid is the original, but a few of the copies (including Skateboard Purple Kid & Purple Hoodie Kid) are out at all times.

Second side note, M!Nelson might be the next Elemental Master of Time, because if Krux and Acronix are both chill and good in the M!verse (like M!Morro) and just happen to befriend this cool kid that likes coming to their museum, well...

As for a name for Purple Jacket Kid... may I recommend 驚き, Odoroki, meaning surprise? And the bonus headcanon of their last name being Fuchsia, to further add to the ‘hiding in plain sight’ idea. Because it’s so obvious that it simply can’t be them, which means you’ll never see it coming when it is.

They also happen to be good at quick changes, especially into generic street clothes, to further add to the surprise & hidden in plain sight gimmick (on top of all the copies wearing slightly different versions of a purple get-up & sunglasses). Of course, this is a popular skill to have in Theatre. So the Fuchsia Ninja is a theatre kid now.

And who else works in a theatre that Odoroki might frequent? M!Lou.

Odoroki/Purple Jacket Kid being the Fuchsia Ninja might also be why his reaction to Lloyd was more surprised/bewildered/intrigued than hostile or angry stares. You can briefly see Purple Hoodie Kid’s reaction too when Zane shows up and rolls with Lloyd into school, though they’re too far away to make much out. They seem energetic & mostly not interested though.

But we’ll never know if this theory/headcanon is entirely canon-complicit within the M!verse. I guess until there’s further confirmation on the Fuchsia Ninja, their identity will have to remain a...

SURPRISE!

-------------

UPDATE: 

Found this one too, walking around outside and then inside leaping out of the way of Nya’s bike

You can also see Purple Jacket (who according to the wiki, is just titled ‘Guy’ when a lot of the other figures are named- suspicious) around the city a lot, but you can also see a ton of the classmates constantly, so it could be re-used models... or multiple copies styled after Purple Jacket

So who knows!

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.