Kai (Ninjago)

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Character
Name: Kai
Kai Smith (semi-canon) • Kai Jiang (w/ fanon last name)
Red Ninja • Master of Fire
Korean: 카이
Simplified Chinese: 凯·史密斯
Occupation:
Relationships: Maya (mother; alive)
Ray (father; alive)
Nya (younger sister; alive)
Fandom: Ninjago
Other: ENG Voice Actor: Vincent Tong
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Spoiler Warning: This article or section may contain spoilers. If this bothers you, proceed with caution.

Kai is a main character in the LEGO Ninjago series. He debuted in the first season of Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, which premiered in January 2011. He also appears in Ninjago: Dragons Rising, which premiered in June 2023.

Kai is one of the four main 'Spinjitzu' ninja in the original series along with Cole, Jay and Zane. He is also allies with Nya, his sister, who assisted the ninjas as 'Samurai X' before becoming a ninja herself in season five, as well as Lloyd Garmadon, who joined the ninja in season one as the fabled 'Green Ninja.'

His relationship with Skylor Chen, an ally of the ninja who was introduced in season four, Kai/Skylor, is canonical. The ship, commonly known as Kailor, is popular with fans. Lloyd Garmadon/Kai, commonly known as GreenflameShipping, is also popular and is one of Ninjago's most commonly shipped slash pairings.

Canon Overview

[characterization, story role, further important appearances]

Kai served as the main character during the pilot episodes, but later took a backseat to Lloyd as the lead. After learning he didn't need to be the main character, Kai became a team player who tends to rush in and act cocky, but will flip a switch and become the dependable emotional support of the team when they need him. In Dragons Rising, he is steady and supportive, but still does rash and crazy things when he can get away with it.

Popular Tropes & Fanon

Appearance in non-LEGO Human AUs

  • Ethnicity: Kai's most common ethnicity headcanon is Southeast Asian. Him being Hispanic is also a popular, more-so than any of the other ninja.
  • Body Type: Kai's often portrayed as taller than average or of average height. Rarely is he perceived as the shortest or tallest ninja.
  • Eye Color: Brown is the most popular, sometimes with a red or olive tint. It's often a light brown, though black is also a common eye color for him. He may also have red eyes.
  • Age: Common fanon is that he was 14-19 in the first season of the series.
  • Fanworks may not incorporate the scars he got on his face post-2017 redesign.
  • Fanart may portray him with burn scars from being hit with his own fire, usually on his hands. They could also be from poor blacksmithing.

Popular Tropes in Fanworks

  • Protective/Older Sibling/Parental Kai: Fanworks often focus on Kai's care-giving and/or mentoring abilities, especially since he canonically helped raise Nya after their parents were kidnapped. Kai & Wyldfyre is a canonical example of him being a type of caregiver, though Lloyd Garmadon & Kai can easily be interpreted as a canonical older/younger brother relationship. He sometimes takes on a parental role to Lloyd, usually filling in the gap left by Garmadon's absence.
  • RGB siblings: Kai is often portrayed as having a sibling relationship with Lloyd, due to his protectiveness over him in the first season and beyond. By extension, Nya and Lloyd are also depicted as siblings.
  • Kai Angst: Less popular for fanworks than with Jay or Zane, but many fanworks may focus on him coming to terms with not being the Green Ninja, losing his fire to Aspheera, and how he survived while being lost in the Realm of Monsters.
  • Bisexual Kai: Bisexual is his most common LGBT sexuality headcanon, with Gay Kai and Asexual Kai being much less common.
  • Trans Kai: Him being transgender is a popular headcanon, with FtM being the most common.
  • Evil Kai: Typically focusing on when he held the Staff of Elements in season four and temporarily turned evil.
  • Bottom Kai: More common than Top Kai in LavaShipping works.
  • Master of Water!Kai: Where he swaps his elemental power with Nya's.

Subjects of Fannish Interest & Meta

[discourse, trivia, popular memes, fanon vs. canon]

Fanon Birthday

Kai's fanon birthday in the Tumblr side of the fandom in 2013 was on February 21st.[1]

Relationships

This list has purposefully been left incomplete, as Kai is shipped with many other Ninjago characters. Please add any notable relationships in fanworks if they are missing.

Relationships listed fall into Het, Gen, Slash, Femslash, Poly and/or Cargo.

With... Full Label Type Phrase Portmanteau Information
Skylor Kai/Skylor Het AmberFlameShipping Kailor, Skailor (seen on its page.)
Wyldfyre Kai & Wyldfyre Gen Fyre Duo (n/a) (seen on its page.)
Cole Cole/Kai Slash LavaShipping Kale, Coai (seen on its page.)
Jay Jay/Kai Slash PlasmaShipping Jai (seen on its page.)
Zane Kai/Zane Slash OppositeShipping (n/a) (seen on its page.)
Cole, Jay, Zane Cole/Jay/Kai/Zane Poly Polyninja (n/a) (seen on its page.)
Nya Kai & Nya Gen (n/a) (n/a) (seen on its page.)
Lloyd Kai/Lloyd Slash GreenFlameShipping (n/a) (seen on its page.)
Lloyd Kai & Lloyd Gen Watermelon Duo/Brothers (n/a) (seen on its page.)
Lloyd, Nya Lloyd & Kai & Nya Gen RGB Siblings (n/a) (seen on its page.)
Cole, Skylor Cole/Kai/Skylor Poly GlowStoneShipping (n/a) Adds Skylor to Cole/Kai
Cole, Jay Cole/Jay/Kai Poly VolcanicLightningShipping, DumbassShipping (n/a) (seen on its page.)
Cole, Zane Cole/Kai/Zane Poly MountainShipping (n/a) (seen on its page.)
Jay, Zane Jay/Kai/Zane Poly ConductorShipping, RussiaShipping (n/a) (seen on its page.)
P.I.X.A.L. Kai/P.I.X.A.L. Het HotWireShipping, FirewallShipping (n/a) (seen on its page.)
P.I.X.A.L., Zane Kai/P.I.X.A.L./Zane Poly InsufferableShipping, HotwireShipping (n/a) (seen on its page.)
Morro Kai/Morro Slash DestinyShipping (n/a) (seen on its page.)
Cole, Geo Cole/Geo/Kai Poly MoltenShipping (n/a) (seen on its page.)
Clay Moorington Kai/Clay Moorington Slash PhoenixShipping (n/a) Crossover w/ Nexo Knights
Garmadon Lord Garmadon/Kai Slash EyeOnYouShipping, I'mWatchingYouShipping Garmakai (seen on its page.)

Kai is also popular for self-shipping works.

See List of Ninjago Relationship Names for more.

Example/Notable Fanac

Fan Communities/Fan Events

Wikis

Fan Fic

See Ninjago Fanfiction for more.

Kai (Ninjago) search query on Archive of Our Own

Fics tagged with Kai on FanFiction.Net

Kai-centric Fics

Kai/Original Character Fics

Kai/Reader Insert Fics

(/reader fics that also pair the reader with other characters aren't listed here, see the main Ninjago page instead)

Fan Art

General Fanworks

Fan Mixes

Zines

Meta

References

  1. ^ The birthdays were made up a long time ago, I believe on the ninjagoheadcannons blog, so they aren’t cannon, but since they don’t actually have birthdays we are aware of, the fandom goes off of those(...) by detonatingunicorn, Archived version (04 December 2013)
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