Ninjago and Star Wars

[Tobias_Jay]

The Ninjago T.V show is very popular, however their are some similarities between Ninjago and Star Wars, the characters especially. These are my opinions on what the similarities are. I had to make them in LDD as I do not have all figures necessary in physical form.

This first one is quite obvious. Lloyd is the son of Lord Garmadon, he is destined to be the most powerful ninja and has to fight his father to rid Ninjago of darkness forever. He does not want to full fill his destiny but knows he has to.

Luke is the son of Darth Vader, he is destined to be the last of the Jedi and also has to fight his father in order to save the galaxy from the Empire. He also does not want to fight his father but knows he is the only one who can.

This one isn't so obvious, but I will explain. Kai was a simple blacksmith who wasn't expecting to be involved in the battle to save the world. He is very quick to anger which can aid in battle sometimes.

Chewbacca was a simple warrior for Kashyyk (don't judge if i spelt that wrong) who met and fought along side Yoda. Somehow he ended up fighting for the Rebellion against the Empire. He is also very quick to anger which really helps in battle.

Jay can be cocky at times. He also seemed to despise Lloyd more than the others until he joined them. He also becomes Nya's boyfriend.

Han can also be cocky. He didn't seem to like Luke before they raided the Death Star. He also takes a fancy to Leia.

Zane is a robot/nindroid. He always looks to the logical side of things, and always corrects his friend's mistakes and before he found a humour switch, he couldn't take a joke.

C3PO is clearly also a robot. He also looks to logic and considers himself superior when he corrects his friends mistakes. He also can't take a joke.

Cole is the leader of the team. He is very good at commanding the others and his ideas work.

Lando led the Rebels into the battle over Endor. He made sure the second Death Star blew up.

Nya is sometimes the damsel in distress, but give her a weapon and she can fight for her self. She also hooks up with Jay

Leia has been the damsel in distress in almost all the OT episodes. But she can fight for herself with a weapon. she also hooks up with Han

Sensei Wu is the current grand master of Spinjitzu. He is very wise. His brother has turned against him and Ninjago for revenge.

Yoda is the grand master of the force. He is also very wise and one of his students turned against him to join the Empire.

Lord Garmadon is the biggest threat to Ninjago and will do anything to destroy it. He is also father to Lloyd

Darth Vader is the biggest threat to the Rebels and will do anything the Emporer bids him to do. He is also the father to Luke Skywalker.

This is simply my opinion. If you have different opinions feel free to post them below

[Gabe]

Now i can't stop thinking of Leia being chewie's sister.... thanks for that!

But yeah, i guess the point is that all good stories tap into existing archtypes (like the unwilling hero, the shaman, the shadow self etc), so there are bound to be similarities in the characters and story arcs. Kinda interesting though that in the case of Ninjago, we don't see Lloyd appear on the scene until nearly a year into the storyline? I guess that makes the first season of Ninjago like Eps1-3 of SW, although it always seemed more like TMNT to me.

ps. I only have a passing interest in both of these canons, so forgive me if my understanding is a bit askew!

[Robominer]

If you look at most successful themes/stories/movies, you will find similar patterns. All the good stories copy or parallel each other in some way. It's just how the world works.

[Nakara]

I've always had an idea in the back of my head to make sci-fi "Ninjago" moc's featuring the multicolored classic space astronauts. I still need red and black ones though.

Edited September 25, 2012 by JustinYum

[lightningtiger]

Interesting look at the common thread running though not just Ninjago or Star Wars but any other theme aimed at children....just watch the different series of Ben10 and you'll see similar things.

[Tobias_Jay]

I just thought of another one but my LDD won't start.

Samukai and General Grievious.

Samukai has four arms and will do anything his master (Lord Garmadon) bids him to do without argument but thinks to himself he should be leader.

General Grievious also has four arms and will do what Count Dooku bids him to do. He is also powerful enough to take control over Dooku.

[Peppermint_M]

Congratulations, you’ve come across literary theory and character archetypes.

Read any book, watch any show, view any film, play any video game... The characters all draw on the basic foundations with more layers built up as you go along. These become separate and different with more complex layers but, of course, in any media for children it will be much more basic and therefore similarities easier to see because most children cannot handle deep complex characters.

Go read TV Tropesfor more on characters and see the wide range and some of the more derivative characters out there.

(Warning: Tv Tropes is highly addictive. Enter at your own risk.)