#this applies to hateful shits like harumi too i'm sorry to say

[averygayplant]

Guys, can we take a moment to look at a Ninjago character who's always been there, but is truly unappreciated?

...No, what? Who the fuck is "Dareth"? What are you on about?

I'm talking about Ronin.

For a kids show with a demographic of 6 year old boys (that's what they've been telling us since we were 6 but I'm not sure I believe them) it is surprisingly good at showcasing the morally ambiguous rainbow of villainy and 'bad people'.

In fact, I think the only case of true 'evil incarnate' that the show has is the Overlord- everyone else is shockingly sympathetic and, more importantly, WELL WRITTEN AS BAD GUYS, and Ronin was an excellent example of this- mostly because he has his own moral code and will not break it, even if the law is something he does not respect in the slightest. He respects people who can outwit him, and even when he's trying to capture the Ninja as a bounty, he doesn't do them the incredible disservice of underestimating them, because in his eyes that is an incredibly dishonest thing to do. He doesn't even let them underestimate themselves- and he makes a great 'that one uncle we don't talk about' kind of character, both because his appearances are usually minor and because sometimes he'll help them and sometimes he's the problem, it entirely depends on his own perceived morals, debts and dues. He's even got a soft spot for Nya because she thinks little of societal standards and makes a point of kicking everyone's ass in direct spite of what's expected of her, that's really fucking 3 dimensional for a character who can be described as the personification of a fucking raccoon.

Anyway, I wasn't actually going anywhere with this, I just feel like the really human nature and ambition of most of the mortal villains the Ninja encounter isn't talked about enough

#this applies to hateful shits like harumi too i'm sorry to say #greed and grief and pain and fear are all excellently done in this show and I will not hear it slandered #(you can maybe slander it a little bit as it does have a habit of being a mess sometimes) #lego ninjago #ninjago ronin #ninjago