History YMMV / Ninjago

* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: Season 11's already divisive status gets even worse when one considers that it's basically just a rehash of Seasons 3 and 4. The first villain in the duology is an ancient evil[[note]]Overlord and Aspheera[[/note]] seeking revenge on a descendant of the First Spinjitzu Master[[note]]Lloyd and Wu[[/note]], steal one of the Ninja's powers for their own use[[note]]Lloyd and Kai[[/note]], and their arc ends with Zane supposedly sacrificing himself to save his friends. The second half of the duology deals with a new villain[[note]]Chen and Vex[[/note]] as they use an amnesiac Zane's powers for their own evil plans[[note]]Chen steals Zane's powers directly while Vex manipulates Zane into using his powers for evil[[/note]], and follows the remaining Ninja as they search for Zane in a new, uncharted location[[note]]Chen's Island and the Never-Realm[[/note]] under the guidance of an older character[[note]]Garmadon and Sorla[[/note]]. The story also primarily follows the same three Ninja--Kai, Zane, and Lloyd[[note]]with Kai being the focus of one half, Zane the focus of the other half, and Lloyd a major character in both[[/note]]. The fact that Seasons 3 and 4 were also fairly well-liked doesn't help Season 11's case, as that makes the similarities even more clear.

** Season 11 onwards [[ItsShortSoItSucks cut the episode runtime from 22 to 11 minutes]], [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot which caused plotlines to feel rushed and unfulfilled in the eyes of some]].

** The ending of ''Skybound.'' After planning to [[spoiler: use his last wish to make Nadakhan not a djinn anymore, Jay instead wishes Nya took his hand back during "Infamous," and that Nadakhan's pot was never found. Problem is, it feels like [[LoopholeAbuse cheating]] since it's clearly 2 wishes stitched together by an "and." The moment consequently raises the question of why other characters hadn't tried using this loophole before.]]

* SpiritualLicensee: It's certainly a better continuation to Toys/{{Bionicle}} than [[Toys/Bionicle2015 its reboot]]. It stars six elemental heroes, with the only female one being water elemental, and the story gets considerably darker. Wu and Garmadon call Mata Nui and Makuta to mind, especially after BIONICLE G2 featured Ekimu and Makuta. The Overlord being the GreaterScopeVillain defeated by the power of light can also seem similar to Makuta. The Sons of Garmadon arc even featured [[MaskOfPower masks that empowered the wearers]] used to [[spoiler:revive one of the brothers]].

* AssPull: Lloyd [[spoiler:losing his powers but the four original ninja keep their powers, despite the powers being bonded. Prior to this, Mystake stated that if the four original ninja used their powers to heal Lloyd, they would lose their powers. But after doing so, they still have their powers but Lloyd doesn't. While it is convenient that the ninja no longer need Lloyd's power to keep their powers, it still doesn't make a lot of sense nor was it expected for Lloyd to lose his power, despite being healed with elemental energy. It just feels forced into to make the stakes higher]].

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* AudienceAlienatingEra: Several, depending on your tastes.
** 2016-2017 could be considered this, as it had Skybound, probably the most divisive season, (Before Crystalized), Day of the Departed, one of the most disliked installments of the series, and Hands of time, which is another controversial season.
** The Oni trilogy, for those who prefer a less dark tone for the series.
The wildbrain era is this, as long time fans were jarred by the focus on spectacle and animation over story, the shorter rutime (11 minutes as opposed to 22), and the more immature writing.

** The redesigning of the ninja following {{The Lego Ninjago Movie}} from Sons of Garmadon and onwards. Some fans consider the redesigns improved from the originals, while others see them as a downgrade.
** While Sons of Garmadon helped {{Win back the crowd}} due to the darker tone and cinematic nature. However, there is still some division among fans about some of the decisions made during the season. While not a hated season, it still caused a fair amount of controversy in its day. This was mostly because of the redesigns of the ninja, and [[spoiler: the ressurection of Lord Garmadon]]

** One criticism of Crystalized is that Skylor, a fan favorite character, is reduced to just a plot device instead of a character. This, however, was already seen in Hunted, where her only major role involved [[spoiler: having her powers conveniently used to take control of the Colossus]]
** Season 11 of the show depicts the ninja becoming too lazy, throwing aside their ninja responsibilities to play videogames and eat junk food. This received much criticism, but this had already been seen before, right at the start of the show, in fact.

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** IronWoobie: While it may have started as early as Season 2, Garmadon falls firmly into this trope in the second half of season 4. [[spoiler:From being painfully transformed against his will (once again!) into an Anacondrai to Chen taunting him about his past deception in front of Wu and Misako to having to make a HeroicSacrifice, the last three episodes are basically a TraumaCongaLine for him.]]

* AudienceAlienatingEra
Several, depending on your tastes.
2016-2017 could be considered this, as it had Skybound, probably the most divisive season, (Before Crystalized), Day of the Departed, one of the most disliked installments of the series, and Hands of time, which is another controversial season.
The Oni trilogy, for those who prefer a less dark tone for the series.

* Harumi. Even before [[spoiler: her return in season 15]] she was a divisive character. Some like her for her character, which has never been seen in the show before. Others think that she's too over the top and dramatic, find her motivations unrealistic, or think she would've worked better as a protagonist.

* The redesigning of the ninja following {{The Lego Ninjago Movie}} from Sons of Garmadon and onwards. Some fans consider the redesigns improved from the originals, while others see them as a downgrade.
* While Sons of Garmadon helped {{Win back the crowd}} due to the darker tone and cinematic nature. However, there is still some division among fans about some of the decisions made during the season. While not a hated season, it still caused a fair amount of controversy in its day. This was mostly because of the redesigns of the ninja, and [[spoiler: the ressurection of Lord Garmadon]]

* FranchiseOriginalSin
* One criticism of Crystalized is that Skylor, a fan favorite character, is reduced to just a plot device instead of a character. This, however, was already seen in Hunted, where her only major role involved [[spoiler: having her powers conveniently used to take control of the Colossus]]
* Season 11 of the show depicts the ninja becoming too lazy, throwing aside their ninja responsibilities to play videogames and eat junk food. This received much criticism, but this had already been seen before, right at the start of the show, in fact.

* One criticism of Crystalized is that Skylor, a fan favorite character, is reduced to just a plot device instead of a character. This, however, was already seen in Hunted, where her only major role involved [[spoiler: only being there as a supporting character, and having her powers conveniently used to take control of the Colossus]]

* While Sons of Garmadon helped {{Win back the crowd}} due to the darker tone and cinematic nature. However, there is still some division among fans about some of the decisions made during the season. While not a hated season, it still caused a fair amount of controversy in its day. This was mostly because of the redesigns of the ninja, and [spoiler: the ressurection of Lord Garmadon]

* To some, the reveal of [Spoiler: Harumi being evil] was this because she was seen in the product animation for the Sons of Garmadon sets fighting the ninja. There was also a fair amount of foreshadowing in the show itself.

* HarsherInHindsight: Cole spending the better part of two seasons as a ghost, along with season 13 being dedicated to him discovering the legacy of his deceased mother, comes off as morbid now that Cole’s voice actor, Kirby Morrow, passed away at age 47 on November 19th, 2020.

* While Sons of Garmadon helped {{Win back the crowd}} due to the darker tone and cinematic nature. However, there is still some division among fans about some of the decisions made during the season. While not a hated season, it still caused a fair amount of controversy in its day. This was mostly because of the redesigns of the ninja, and {{spoiler the ressurection of Lord Garmadon}}

** Was [[spoiler:Garmadon's]] rampage after [[spoiler:Harumi's death]] really because he [[spoiler:[[BerserkerTears wanted to avenge her out of grief?]]]] or was it because he realized he had no way of pretending that he [[spoiler:couldn't bring himself to kill Lloyd]] anymore (like he did when [[spoiler:he "adopted" Harumi]]), therefore hoping that [[spoiler:Lloyd]] would die in the ensuing chaos and not live with the guilt of doing the deed with his hands? The fact that [[spoiler:he actually saves Lloyd's life a couple of times when he could've easily just let him die]] during their final battle seems to point towards the latter.