Ninja Castle Subtheme return potential

[TeriXeri]

1 hour ago, Triceron said:

I mean honestly, Ninja is kinda left in the dust and forgotten.  It's kind of up there with the Bull Knights or Knights Kingdom 2.  You're not gonna hear Lego putting in many Bull Knights references in new Castle themed sets, or bring out a Knights Kingdom 2 Icons set any time soon.

Yeah Bull Knights did get indirect reference via Axl in Nexo Knights, but that's about it, I doubt they'd get much else before any other faction anytime soon.

[MAB]

13 hours ago, Breakspear said:

I agree, as a Castle-sub theme, Ninja has an extremely very low profile (unlike say - Wolfpack), and lacks sets of sufficiently 'classic' status to justify a modern, nostalgia-fueled remake (e.g. like Eldorado Fortress). This is a major impediment. As such, i believe any future set would probably be marketed primarily on the global appeal of Japanese samurai/ninja imagery, rather than the appeal of the Ninja sub-theme itself. Again, I see parallels with the recent Viking Village set here.

Personally, I don't consider Ninja as part of Castle at all, so it is very low profile to me! I think Wolfpack is really quite different in that even though it didn't have many sets, those sets where part of Castle and Wolfpack easily sits alongside Forestmen, Crusaders/Lions, Black Falcons. They may be "bringing Wolfpack back", but they are doing it in a very minor way by doing a figure. It is a nice gesture for nostalgia seekers but they are doing it in a way where they don't bring back any Wolfpack sets. From my perspective, that is ideal. It will mean I can buy a small band of Wolfpack figures and I'd build my own designs anyway, so it's just perfect without any new sets. For people that don't know what Wolfpack is, the inclusion makes no difference but he still fits. They cannot really put a Ninja character into a Castle set without people wondering why there is some weird Ninjago-like figure in the wrong set.

It has been noted a number of times, Ninjago has done Ninja builds better than Ninja. Not the whacky techno stuff, but the traditional Asian architecture. There are some beautiful builds. A one off Ninja set just becomes a not quite Ninjago set.

12 hours ago, Triceron said:

I mean honestly, Ninja is kinda left in the dust and forgotten.  It's kind of up there with the Bull Knights or Knights Kingdom 2.  You're not gonna hear Lego putting in many Bull Knights references in new Castle themed sets, or bring out a Knights Kingdom 2 Icons set any time soon.

True, although I imagine it is also still far easier to put in a single knight with bull heraldry on the shield and/or torso into a regular castle set than a Ninja. A nice Easter Egg that might go unnoticed by some but loved by others. The bull did already reappear in Nexo Knights as Axl (slightly adapted in shape) [edit: just spotted that was referenced above, it was on the next page] and was in almost the original form on a power shield for NK too. I wouldn't mind a few more torsos and matching shields with individual heraldry on like that, same for the boar from CMF where they did the shield. Just doing one character is enough if the torso is generic enough to reuse for an army. Just like a single new wolfpack torso is fine for basing a small band of rouges using different cowls, masks, cloaks and legs.

Edited February 15 by MAB
NK reference

[Lion King]

I do think Ninja as a Caslte subtheme becuase Lego / fan bases said so. Let’s face it it had castle in it. 

You spend time too much looking at European castles. Just saying.

But I agree that it’s a low profile.

[TeriXeri]

I just found out today, that in the LEGO Fortnite game, you can unlock Shogun Palace building parts (lategame if you have upgraded village in Ice Biome)

It's interesting to see how those buildings represent classic Ninja a lot more then Ninjago imo. (altho as in this game all the builds are like already at a huge scale, actual sets, even 18+ Icons, would not be at this scale)

https://fortnite.fandom.com/wiki/LEGO_Fortnite:Builds

Also there are references to regular Castle with castle builds, as well as you can have a random villager appear that's a Lion Knight , and npc enemy minifigs in frost biome can be Falcon knights or Wolfpack.

Edited February 16 by TeriXeri

[Lion King]

On 2/16/2024 at 3:45 PM, TeriXeri said:

I just found out today, that in the LEGO Fortnite game, you can unlock Shogun Palace building parts (lategame if you have upgraded village in Ice Biome)

It's interesting to see how those buildings represent classic Ninja a lot more then Ninjago imo. (altho as in this game all the builds are like already at a huge scale, actual sets, even 18+ Icons, would not be at this scale)

https://fortnite.fandom.com/wiki/LEGO_Fortnite:Builds

Also there are references to regular Castle with castle builds, as well as you can have a random villager appear that's a Lion Knight , and npc enemy minifigs in frost biome can be Falcon knights or Wolfpack.

Ok I’m more curious about this Shogun Castle.  Thanks for sharing!