A Legend of our Childhood: A Kirby Morrow Tribute

How I Came to Love Cole

Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm a Ninjago fan, and anyone who can tell you that will tell you I have major favoritism problems when it comes to Lloyd. Those problems have caused me to be pretty biased when it comes to anything concerning him, to the point where I'm basically blind and deaf to any argument. This is something I have yet to resolve. Another well known thing about me is my quizzes. Anyone who's taken them knows I'm something of a Ninjago Trivia Master, so it's unlikely for me to sideline or forget anything important, right? Especially not one of the Ninja, right? Wrong. Let me explain why I felt I owed this to Kirby, and something I still feel guilty about to this day.

I got into Ninjago June 2022. My favorite/most hated part of the show was the history concerning the FSM and elemental powers, so, ofc, Lloyd's powers were a subject of fascination for me. I became (and still am) obsessed with his powers *holds in really long rant*. I can, and have, go/gone on for hours. Downside of this? I threw everything else to the side.

I thought of the rest of the ninja as their stereotypes labeled them. Jay was the funny guy. Kai, the hothead. Nya, the girl(not sexist! I'm a proud female myself!) Zane, the robot. That's literally how I thought of them. I ranked them (and everyone else) based on their relationship with Lloyd. Did you notice I left one out? That's because I, at the time, I always forgot about Cole. I didn't even stereotype him like the others. If you asked me about him, I'd probably just say, "Oh, the cake guy?", make a joke about preferring candy over cake, thus turning the conversation to Lloyd. Tbh, if no one ever brought brought him up, I'd probably generally forget about him. *hides as all the Cole fans attempt to kill me, then grabs Lego to build a fortress* To me, Cole was the (FORGIVE ME) useless ninja, the replaceable one. Actually, the replaced one. Now that I think about it, I used to think of him as Lloyd's placeholder as leader of the ninja.

....

Okay, so who wants to slap me first? I deserve it after that last sentence.

Anyways, let's get back to honoring Kirby Morrow

So just how did this guy become my second favorite ninja? (sorry, Lloyd still rules. He's basically untouchable.) Blame, (like so many other improvements in my mental state) https://www.quotev.com/Ninja8443.%C2%A0 . In my story Eleternia I'm using her OC, so when I had to do a chapter from her favorite ninja's POV, I had to do my best. Thing is, her favorite ninja is, you guessed it. Cole. The very ninja I'd dismissed for months. I barely knew this guy. I forgot he fell in March of the Oni. Seriously, I was reading a fanfic that was talking about it and I... I-thought-the-author-made-it-up 😅. (still feel bad about that one. You have my permission to hunt me down). Anyways, my loyalty to my friends is second to one, so I gave it my best shot and... ended up with possibly the best chapter in my story yet, a new second favorite character, and... a whole lot of guilt XD.

I knew Kirby had died when I first watched Seabound, but I didn't bother finding out who he was. Not until someone brought it up on here. Then... hate to say it but I was like, "Aw, RIP. Now back to-". It wasn't till I wrote the chapter did I actually find out what happened and... I instantly felt more guilty. I've struggled a lot in my life, and I know what its like to just want to drown it all out. I've done some regrettable things. Learning I'd dismissed someone who had struggled too felt horrible. I rewatched Ninjago and kept finding moments when I was like "How did I ever ignore this guy?". And honestly? I'm not sure how I did.

Cole is a sweet, steady, amazing guy. He may be ignored a lot, but that's because he doesn't need the spotlight to be a great character. All the other ninja have had their ups and downs. Kai became comic relief while Nya basically took his personality. Zane's become increasingly robotic over the years. Jay, well, Jay's annoying, not to mention all the Jaya fails. Even Lloyd is hit or miss through out the various seasons. Yet Cole's been a consistently good character despite being ignored by the writers (like me, they suffer from putting too much attention on Lloyd. SERIOUSLY PEOPLE, HE'S SUFFERED ENOUGH. GO BOTHER THE OTHER NINJA AND LET HIM TAKE THE BACKSEAT FOR ONCE)

So, after all that, when the anniversary of Kirby Morrow's death came around, I had to do something. This guy voiced a legend of our childhood and many other characters, over 100. He may be gone, but legends never die, right? Not if we remember them. Thank you to everyone one here for helping me make sure this legend never does. Rest in peace Kirby Morrow, we'll carry your memory with us every step of every day, and make sure you're never forgotten. - Shadow Kaida