Heartwarming / Ninjago

Spoilers Off applies to all Heartwarming pages, so all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

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Pilot

Season 1: Rise of the Snakes

• "Never Trust a Snake":
  • The Ninja finally capture Lloyd and suggest harsh punishments for him until an angry-looking Master Wu assures them that he knows exactly what to do: he puts Lloyd to bed, reads him a bedtime story about not trusting snakes and forgives his nephew for his misdeeds as he understands that Lloyd was just a lonely child who needed love.
  • The episode features the ninja trying to solve a riddle about the best way to defeat your enemy. The answer?
  Sensei Wu: (smiling) It is to make them your friend.
  • Fangtom and Skales, the generals of the Fangpyre and Hypnobrai Tribes, are shown to have an Interspecies Friendship. The five Tribes all have it out for one another, so it's amazing to see that these two tribes simply united because of their Generals being friends with one another.
• "Tick Tock":
  • Zane turns out to be a Ridiculously Human Robot. For the other three, this doesn't make a lick of difference.
  • Zane's creator has a tearful goodbye with him as the old man is about to die, then wipes Zane's memories so he won't have to experience loss.
  • Really, the whole scene of Zane flips his memory switch and accesses his memories of Dr. Julien. The care and concern his creator had for him is obvious and very moving.
• The entire episode "Once Bitten Twice Shy" is this. Jay tries to impress Nya on their first date together, believing she would fall for him if he was cooler. However, Nya reassures him at the end of the episode that she likes him just the way he is.
• The ending to "Home". After spending most of the episode wondering where his family is, the rest of the Ninjas fully accept Zane as their brother, and Zane tells Sensei Wu that he considers them his family.
• In Episode 9, "The Royal Blacksmiths". When Cole's Father Lou finds out that his son is not a dancer but a Ninja, his main concern is not that his son is refusing to follow in his father's footsteps, but rather that he is ashamed to have a son who believes stealing is right.
  • Cole earns his father's acceptance of being a ninja rather than a dancer, and then his father hangs up a picture of the Ninja claiming that it's better than a trophy.
• "The Green Ninja":
  • Kai, despite having been insanely annoyed about Lloyd's presence and determined to unlock his true potential, chooses to rescue Lloyd when forced into a choice between retrieving a powerful weapon or saving Lloyd (unlocking his potential in the process) and afterward, taking a position of Lloyd's mentor and protector, something that Kai never wavers in ever again.
  • Despite being infected and consumed by the evil venom of the Great Devourer in his blood after being bitten, Lord Garmadon still truly cares about, genuinely loves, and adores his son Lloyd and always wants what's best for him. He does not want Lloyd to become a wicked, evil villain like himself, and wanted Lloyd to be the great man that he (Garmadon) himself could never be, because Lloyd still has a choice and should find his own destiny as he never got to make the choice to become evil, hinting that the Great Devourer's venom could not corrupt his heart completely. Even though they're now on opposite sides and are destined to meet in battle, he is still very proud of him and uses the skeleton army to help save the ninjas. Garmadon, despite knowing his son is destined to defeat him, often comments on how proud he is of Lloyd for not following his example.

Season 2: Legacy of the Green Ninja

• Jay's parents offer to help the Ninja win the race they are all in because they heard why the boys were participating (they wanted to save a friend's dojo).
  • Jay later takes a piece of his parents' racer with him (after theirs gets totaled) saying that at least some of their car will cross the finish line.
• Misako and Garmadon's first meeting in years in "The Last Hope," where it's apparent he still has feelings for her.
• Garmadon turning good again at the end of "Rise of the Spinjitzu Master", with Lloyd, Sensei Wu, and Misako running to greet him, making their family whole again.
• Zane meeting his father again in "The Last Voyage", who was previously thought to have died.

Season 3: Rebooted

• Zane reactivating P.I.X.A.L. by giving her half of his power core. Jay's mother certainly thinks it's heartwarming.
  • Basically every time the two of them are together this season will warm and fuzzy your heart. Zane is overjoyed to find another Nindroid that he can relate to, while P.I.X.A.L. gradually shows human traits while being around him.
• Skales and the other Serpentine starting families while being imprisoned. Heck, Skales even had a son!
• Lloyd and his father growing closer over their exile during most of season 3.
• Garmadon breaks his vow of peace because Pythor and the Overlord kidnapped his son.
  Pythor: But your oath! You said you'd never fight!
  Garmadon: When you took my son, all bets were off.
• Wu being freed from the Overlord's Mind Control and saving his brother.
• Four words:
  Zane: (to P.I.X.A.L.) Are we... compatible now?

Season 4: Tournament of Elements

• Jay and Cole finally ending their feud in "Versus".
• Cole seeing Zane in the prison cell, and his voice brimming with joy at reuniting with his friend.
  • Karlof covering for Cole just so he could see Zane. In fact, Cole and Karlof's interactions are just heartwarming in general.
• At the end of "The Day of the Dragon", once all the competitors are freed, they're all more than happy to unite with the ninja in stopping Chen.
• In "The Corridor of Elders", when all of the people of Ninjago, human and Serpentine, stand together against Chen's Anacondrai army. Doubles as a Moment of Awesome.
  • After the exiled Anacondrai return and defeat Chen and his army, they thank Lloyd for freeing them and giving them the chance to regain their honor. Garmadon's sacrifice is also recognized when a statue of him is carved into the Corridor Of Elders.
  • Pythor, of all people, is given forgiveness and a second chance to redeem himself by the Anacondrai generals (he doesn't take it, but still, the fact that they even offered is nice).

Season 5: Possession

• "Winds of Change": Kai refuses to leave without Lloyd, and when Morro asks why, Kai claims he's made a promise to keep Lloyd safe, no matter what. Kai even managed to get through to Lloyd and might've actually rescued him, if not for the others dragging him away.
• Nothing really changes when Cole becomes a ghost. Despite being technically dead, the other characters treat him as if he was still alive. They even embrace the idea of Cole being a ghost and accept it as a boost in skill.
  • When Cole first became a ghost, Nya comforted him and helped him cope with the fact that he had become a ghost. She even gives him a heartwarming hug.
  • When having to cross the water to get out of prison in Episode 58, Kai hoists up Cole so he wouldn't touch the water, which upon touching could kill him since water is a ghost's only weakness.
  • This is also heartwarming because Kai had been previously shown to be scared of water.

Season 6: Skybound

• "Infamous": The Ninja stop by to make a kid an 'honorary Ninja' as a part of the Grant-a-Wish Foundation. In turn, the kid helps them get to the rooftop so they could head for Stixx to stop Clouse.
• In a very twisted way, the origin of the Sky Pirates was this. All of the members of what became Nadakhan's crew were initially misfits, but Nadakhan brought them together, and all of the Sky Pirates seem to really love their lives.
  • That is until Nadakhan betrays them once he gets infinite wishes.
• "Wishmasters": Lloyd's selfless sacrifice of himself and Cole so that Jay and Nya could escape and serve as the last hope to save Ninjago.
  • This is heightened by the fact that Lloyd is risking that he and Cole could be trapped in the Sword of Souls for all eternity if Nya and Jay would fail.
    • This just goes to show how selfless Lloyd has become, and that his wish to become wise and old like Sensei Wu may have been worth it after all.
• "The Way Back": Jay and Nya finally get back together. Complete with a Big Damn Kiss!

Day of the Departed

• While the other revived villains go to fight the Ninja, Morro goes to get Wu to tell him and the Ninja what's going on. Morro then peacefully goes back to the Departed Realm with a smile on his face.
• Cole finally returns to normal after being a ghost for so long.
• Cole tries to save Sensei Yang, but he fails only because Yang pulled a Heel–Face Turn and gave up his chance so he could save Cole.

Season 7: The Hands of Time

Season 8: Sons of Garmadon

• This interaction between Zane and P.I.X.A.L while they're attempting to fix the Bounty's computer:
  Zane: Try now.
  P.I.X.A.L.: No.
  Zane: And now?
  P.I.X.A.L.: No.
  Zane: I detect frustration from you, yet that emotion is not needed for this task. Is something wrong?
  P.I.X.A.L.: No. Yes. Zane, may I ask you something?
  Zane: You have half my heart. You can ask me anything.
  P.I.X.A.L.: Was I more...useful...inside the computer?
  Zane: What sort of question is that?
  P.I.X.A.L.: You can be honest with me, because I want to be a useful member of the team, but I would prefer not to return to the computer. I like having a body, but if you require my assistance in your headset—
  Zane: The choice has always been yours, P.I.X.A.L. And I, for one, like seeing you like this.
  P.I.X.A.L.: Good.

Season 9: Hunted

• The Elemental Masters are back, probably due to the ninja being presumed dead to help Lloyd fight against the resurrected Garmadon.
• The 4 ninja (Kai, Jay, Cole, and Zane) are fighting their own fight in the Realm of Oni and Dragons against the "Dragon Hunters" an evil faction that has enslaved the dragons native to the realm, just the thought of the ninja helping such majestic creatures is heart-warming enough, the fact that Wu has aged into a kid, and therefore will take an active role in this season just adds even more layers of d'aww, because it's essentially Wu helping his people escape an oppressive rule.
• In spite of losing his powers, Lloyd fights on, even when he gets beaten down while training his remaining friends (Nya, Misako, Darreth, and P.I.X.A.L.) cheer him up afterward.
• Mystake, despite being an Oni, came to genuinely love Ninjago.

Season 10: March of the Oni

Season 11: Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu

• While separated, Zane and P.I.X.A.L. each have a moment when they fear they're going to die. Each one takes the time to leave a message ^note Zane via a video log, P.I.X.A.L. via Master Wu to the other, declaring their love. It makes their reunion in the finale that much sweeter.

Season 12: Prime Empire

• Jay empathizes with Unagami about feeling abandoned by his creator/parent, making sure Unagami can get closure and reunite with Milton Dyer. Followed shortly by Dyer recognizing and accepting his role as Unagami's father, apologizing for abandoning him, and guiding him to make the right decision in ending his Prime Empire scheme.

Season 13: Master of the Mountain

• Cole and Master Wu (with a little bit of pushing from Vania) helping each other overcome their problems, with Wu reminding Cole that even without the Spinjitzu Burst he's still a leader and Cole reminding Wu that he's not obsolete and still every bit the master he was when the ninja first met him.
  Wu: What has been the principal lesson of all my teachings?
  [Beat]
  Wu: I'm waiting.
  Cole: Ninja never quit.
  Wu: Exactly. Ninja never quit. And from this moment on, neither do Masters. They would never quit on us and we will never quit on them. Burst or not, we have a dragon to face!

Season 14: Seabound

• In "Nyad", just before merging with the Endless Sea in order to save Jay's life, Nya looks back and (with no sound heard coming out of her mouth) says "I love you". After having dated Jay for so long and never responding when he says it, it's so bittersweet that she finally says it before giving up her physical form.
• "The Turn of the Tide":
  • After Wojira is defeated, and everyone congratulates Nya, Kai immediately says that they'll get used to her water form. Considering he admitted to being afraid of water a while back, he's willing to face it for her.
  • After Nya leaves and the team holds a memorial for her, Jay informs Maya of Nya's final words ("That's the way the cookie crumbles".) She instantly realizes why her daughter did what she did and looks proud.
    • Afterwards, Kai comes to comfort his mother while Cole comforts Jay, staying by his side for the whole service.
  • Several characters throughout the show attend Nya's eulogy, the crowd stretching down the staircase leading to the Monastery.
    • Some attendants include Darreth, Jay's parents, Ed and Edna, Skylor, (those three making their first appearance since Wildbrain took over production) Skales, Acidicus, Clutch Powers, Dwayne, Unagami, Milton Dyer, Okino, Racer Seven, Vania, Hailmar, Murtessa, Gulch, Twitchy Tim, Gayle Gossip, Antonia, Murt, Nelson, Ronin, the heads of the Explorer's Club, the Upply, a monk, and a Beaver.
    • Yeah, you read that last part right. Ronin, the previous main antagonist and ally who turned on the ninja (again) was released from his imprisonment on the Island of the Keepers so he could attend the eulogy. It proves that his friendship with Nya in "Possession" truly was genuine.

Season 15: Crystalized

• Just about all of the episode "The Call of Home" is either sad or heartwarming:
  • Nya reading the messages on the lanterns and eventually breaking free of her Identity Amnesia is a particular highlight.
• The Ninja being too happy over saving Nya to care that they're being arrested in "A Painful Promise":
  Pink Ninja: I hope it was worth it, criminal!
  Lloyd: ...It was.
• "The Benefit of Grief" and its message that shutting off your emotions (in Zane's case, literally) isn't healthy and that there is a benefit to emotions, even grief.
• All of the interactions between Garmadon and Vinny Foleon in "Christofern" in which the latter tries to teach the former how to be empathetic and kind. Not to mention, Garmadon's "interactions" with the titular plant in not only the episode but throughout the season.
• Lloyd is full of himself when it comes to dealing with his estranged relationship with his father Garmadon, believing that he's incapable of changing due to his past crimes, in spite of the fact that Garmadon helped him and the Ninja in fighting off the Oni and other enemies. Even when Garmadon tried to prove that he's capable of change by revealing that he's actually caring for Christofern, Lloyd angrily claims that plants don't count, which left Garmadon very depressed and drove him to leave the plant in the abandoned Serpentine library. However, in "Distress Calls", upon witnessing Garmadon taking down a crystallized Serpentine without even killing him, Lloyd finally realized the importance of Christofern that is helping Garmadon develop compassion and overcome his evil tendencies. Because of this, Lloyd apologizes to Garmadon by admitting that he was wrong to question his change of nature; he even willingly returns to the Serpentine library so that Garmadon can reclaim the plant.
• "Roots" is full of these moments:
  • Lloyd and Harumi's first thoughts following the defeat of the Crystal King being whether the other is okay.
  • Following the Overlord's defeat and the Oni Temple's destruction, the ninja cheered for their victory, even joined in by their families, friends, allies, and former enemies as they all cheer for the Overlord's defeat. Upon witnessing the Golden Ultra Dragon returning Garmadon, Lloyd, and Harumi back to Ninjago City, Wu and the ninja are happy to see Garmadon and Lloyd again; even Garmadon and Lloyd vouched for Harumi by revealing that she turned against the Overlord after learning that he was the one who created the Great Devourer that killed her family and drove her to become evil in the first place.
  • Garmadon happily plants Christofern on a hilltop, cementing his new intent to help his family and the others rebuild Ninjago; even lampshading the fact that he overcame his evil tendencies as an Oni to become a better person.
    Garmadon: There. That wasn't so bad, was it? After all, I can't keep carrying you around forever. You're a plant. You should have roots. I once thought roots were a sign of weakness. Hmm. But I was wrong. We are stronger together. I must go help my son rebuild his monastery now. Hmm... an Oni, building instead of destroying. What next? (smiles as he walks away) What next indeed...?
  • Similar to the ending of Seabound, most of the show's side characters appear again during the final scene. This time, however, it's to help rebuild the monastery. This includes the Shintarians, the Keepers, and the Merlopians, as well as previously antagonistic or straight-up villainous characters, like the New Ninja, Hounddog McBrag, Unagami, Ronin, Fugi-Dove, Ultra-Violet, Killow, and Harumi. Even Garmadon himself comes up to help Lloyd by passing a floorboard to use, which Wu happily observes, saying the final words of the series:
    Wu: (smiles) Remarkable... simply remarkable.
    

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