Zane (Ninjago)

"I am the Titanium Ninja!"

- Zane Zane Julien is one of the main protagonists of LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu. He is the Elemental Master and Ninja of Ice, as well as the first Nindroid. Zane was recruited by Wu, and trained to become a Ninja alongside Cole, Kai, Lloyd, Nya, and Jay. Together, they fought in many battles against the Serpentine and the Stone Army, which was led by Lord Garmadon and The Overlord. During this time, Zane was reunited with his father, Dr. Julien.

After Lloyd won the Final Battle, Pythor aided The Overlord in becoming the Golden Master and commanding the corrupt Nindroids. The Ninja clashed with the Nindroids until Zane sacrificed himself to defeat the Golden Master. After building a new body, Zane was captured and sent to a mysterious island. The Ninja rescued Zane, and allied with the Elemental Masters to defeat Chen's army. With Zane back in the action, the Ninja went on to battle Morro and an army of ghosts. After Nya destroyed the Cursed Realm, the Ninja fought Nadakhan, who rebuilt his homerealm in Ninjago. When Jay made his final wish, recent events were undone. On the Day of the Departed, Cole accidentally revived the Ninjas' old enemies, including Cryptor, who Zane fought and destroyed once more. Zane is also one of the three ninja with a known surname, the other ninjas being Jay and Lloyd.

Background
In the LEGO Ninjago: The Movie, Zane was shown to be discovered by Sensei Wu while he was testing himself. He was then brought to Sensei Wu's monastery to train in the ways of Spinjitzu. He trained alongside fellow students Jay and Cole. The three later attacked another ninja that they found in the monastery, Kai. Sensei Wu broke up the fight and introduced Kai as the fourth ninja. Wu then announced to the four ninjas that the search for The Four Golden Weapons was to begin.

He then gave the ninjas their new kimonos and told them about their elemental powers. Zane became the ninja of Ice. Then the ninjas were sent on a mission to find and collect the four Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu before Lord Garmadon could.

At the Caves of Despair, the location of the Scythe of Quakes, soon after the scythe was recovered by the ninjas, they were attacked by an army of Skulkins led by Samukai, the King of The Underworld. Jay noticed while battling that the fighting patterns were similar to the patterns in the training course at the monastery and started going through the motions he had learned from Sensei Wu, and he summoned a tornado of energy corresponding with his element. In other words: he performed Spinjitzu. Zane and the others followed and were also able to perform Spinjitzu. Samukai and his legion retreated, as the Earth Dragon protecting the Scythe appeared behind the ninja. In desperation, Kai used the scythe, despite Wu's instruction not to use the weapons power, as no mortal could handle it. A rift appeared in the cave ceiling, and the ninja manage to escape.

As the ninja headed to the Shurikens of Ice, Wu taught them the most powerful move in Spinjitzu: the Tornado of Creation. The boat arrived, at their destination, and crashed into the island of ice, where the ninjas entered the frozen plains. The three escaped another dragon, the 2260 Ice Dragon Attack, as Zane was frozen upon contact with the weapons, and the others used him as a snowboard, with the Shurikens of Ice now being in their possession.

Next, At the Floating Ruins, they climbed a giant chain to the Nunchucks of Lightning. Once they retrieved the Nunchucks, they jumped down from the Floating Ruins to escape the Lightning Dragon, using inventions that Jay had constructed (jet packs with spawn wings) to lower themselves safely to the ground. The ninjas were at such a high altitude that they were able to fly to all the way to the Forest of Tranquility, the location of the Sword of Fire.

The group went to sleep in the forest. Kai left while the others were asleep because he had been tricked by Garmadon that his kidnapped sister, Nya, is in the forest. Sensei Wu later left to follow Kai, while Zane, Jay, and Cole were still asleep at their camp. Samukai and the army of Skulkins then arrived, stole three of the golden weapons, and tied the remaining members of the group to a tree. Jay grabbed General Nuckal's sword and cut the rope while the Skulkins were not looking. The three ninjas tried to chase the Skulkins as they escaped with the golden weapons in their vehicles, but the Skulkins escaped to the Underworld. After the Skulkins got away, the ninjas went to the Fire Temple seeking help from Kai, but Zane sensed that the Sword of Fire wasn't there any more. Then the Fire Temple opened to reveal Kai and his sister, Nya, on the Fire Dragon. Zane then learned of the sacrifice that Sensei Wu had made to protect the Sword of Fire.

The ninjas quickly retrieved their elemental dragons and traveled to the Underworld. While in the Underworld, Zane battled the Skulkins and giant spiders. He witnessed Samukai defeat Sensei Wu in battle and take the Sword of Fire from him. Samukai was then seemingly destroyed by the power of the Four Weapons of Spinjitzu all at once, but the combined power of the weapons opened a vortex through space and time which allowed Lord Garmadon, Wu's evil brother, to escape from the underworld. Zane then traveled to Kai and Nya's village where he and the other ninjas were welcomed as heroes, allowed to rest until Lord Garmadon returns.

In Flight of the Dragon Ninja, Jay is trying to convince the Ninja that he was the best out of them all after having won in a race with their Dragons beforehand. They decide to hold another race, although Zane objects, claiming they should be training instead, to which Kai assures him that riding their Dragons is a form of training. After Cole wins, Zane says he didn't remember agreeing to the terms before hand.

In Battle Between Brothers Zane notices Sensei Wu wearing a new black kimono and tells him it is "most extraordinary." Wu thanks Zane and tells him it has powers against evil and reminds him of the day Garmadon was banished to the Underworld.

In LEGO Ninjago: Rise of the Snakes, the four ninjas rush to Jamonakai Village to investigate the reports of Lord Garmadon's return. Instead they find Lord Garmadon's son, Lloyd Garmadon, threatening to unleash the mystical Serpentine if he doesn't get all of the candy in town. As the ninjas were leaving they found a scroll in one of the bags on the Fire Dragon, telling that one ninja would rise above the others and become the Green Ninja. The ninjas decided when they got back to the monastery to hold a competition to determine who would become the Green Ninja. Jay was eliminated first, then Zane, and as Kai and Cole were competing the Sword of Fire started a fire in the monastery. Sensei Wu told the ninjas that they were nowhere near the level it took to become the Green Ninja, and that they needed to unlock their golden weapons and find their true potential.

In the second episode of Rise of the Snakes (Home), Zane is found by the other ninjas to be weird, and is the odd one out. For example, when Zane cooked food and came out wearing a pink apron, the other ninjas started a food fight and embarrassed Zane. Then he went outside and found a falcon trying to communicate with him. Zane followed the falcon and it showed him where Lloyd Garmadon had begun to build his tree-house fortress, commanding the Hypnobrai tribe of Snakes in order to get a foothold in Ninjago. The next day Zane took the other three ninja to the tree house fortress to stop Lloyd. During the battle, Cole, who had been previously hypnotized Skales, was pitched against the ninjas as a distraction while the snakes went to go retrieve their Snake Staff from the monastery. Zane was the one who suggested Jay try to shock Cole out of his trance with lightning. Sensei Wu came and cancelled out the Hypnobrai's powers on Cole using a magic flute, then the ninjas returned to see their monastery only to find it up in flames. When Zane suggested this was a teaching moment, the other ninjas turned on him. Sensei Wu told them to apologize, but just when they were about to, Zane had already flown off on his dragon. Sensei Wu took the ninjas into the desert, where they were stranded without a home. Suddenly Zane returned and said that he hadn't left because of them being upset with him, he had simply seen the falcon again and had followed it. Zane said he had found a new place to live and showed them the ship Destiny's Bounty, which became the ninjas new home. Kai, Cole, Jay and Nya raced into the ship because Zane had made dinner for them. Sensei Wu stayed behind with Zane to speak with him a moment, and told Zane that there was more to him than met the eye. Zane asked if he was destined to become the green ninja but Sensei Wu told him it was too early to tell.

In the episode Can of Worms, Lloyd tricked Jay's Training Robot malfunctioned and Jay blamed Zane. Zane and Kai's suits get mixed in the wash, resulting in a pink ninja suit. They figure out that it was Lloyd. Nya discovers the location of the Constrictai and Venomari tombs, so Jay and Kai take on the Venomari while Cole and Zane take on the Constrictai in an attempt to stop Pythor from uniting the Serpentine. Cole and Zane are apprehended by Skalidor, but use the Sacred Flute to defeat him and escape. Kai becomes intoxicated by Venomari venom as the Serpentine ambush them. Cole and Zane arrive on their vehicles to help, but the ninja become cornered. Before facing their demise, they were rescued by a mysterious figure known as Samurai X.The ninja later share this story with Sensei Wu aboard Destiny's Bounty, so Wu tells them to travel to Ninjago City to stop the Serpentine from uniting. The ninja use the power of rumors to their advantage there, but are spotted by Skales. They escape on Zane's Snow Mobile while being pursued by Pythor and Skales.

In the episode Tick Tock, he once again saw the Falcon, and he took the ninja through all of Ninjago with him to follow the falcon. The other ninjas got tired and stayed behind to rest, but Zane continued to follow the falcon. After he reached a snowy wood, the falcon sparked, and he discovered it was a robot. Soon after, he defeated a robot that was supposed to protect the wood from "Treehorns," and found an old house. In the house, he found that it was the house he had lived in before, and found the blueprints that his father had made to build Zane. That was when he discovered that he was a robot, or Nindroid, as Jay dubbed him. When the ninjas found him, he opened up his chest, revealing the switches and cords inside himself. The other ninjas were shocked. He wanted to stay in the house for a moment and had the other ninjas wait outside for a moment, then he flipped the memory switch on after the others left. He then remembered everything about his past, and rushed outside to tell his friends. Instead he found the other ninjas being defeated by the Treehorns, and helped them. After recovering his memories, he felt stronger, and was able to unlock his full potential, defeating the Treehorns in his NRG form.

In Once Bitten Twice Shy, he, Kai and Cole go to the Mega Monster Amusement Park to stop the Serpentine from having the first fang-blade (maybe the Constrictai fang-blade because the Serpentine had to dig it up)but he accidentally froze himself, Kai, and Cole. At the end he says Nya fooled him. He never guessed that Nya was the samurai. Kai then talked about a conversation about that who they thought was the best would be the green ninja. Cole said draw on a blank, Jay said that why would they say that, and Zane said that that the conversation was not in his data base. In the episode, The Snake King, the Ninja are led to the center of the colosseum, and Pythor announces another Slither Pit. Just then, Samurai X is also led out. The duel begins and the Samurai throws projectile weapons at them, but they dodge most of them. Pythor makes the game more interesting by tilting the stage and revealing spikes. As the Ninja hang onto Samurai X's exo-suit, he tells them to keep the charade up, and begins flying. However, the suit is too heavy and he ejects himself from the mech, allowing the Ninja to escape safely, much to their anger. As the exo-suit falls to the desert ground, Zane, Jay, and Cole fall and land near each other.

In the episode Day of the Great Devourer (Episode 13), Zane gets half of his face torn off by the Great Devourer, partially revealing his robotic face.

In Darkness Shall Rise, the Ninja are house hunting. The only house they can afford turns out to be a one bedroom, one half bath apartment without lighting. Jay and Kai argue they need a better place to train Lloyd, and agree to buy an expensive hero suite that's out of their price range. To help pay for this, Zane takes on a job as a professional chef. While fighting snakes, Zane shows the ninja that they can use makeshift weapons.

In Double Trouble, Zane realizes that the school was originally made for evil, there must be hidden passages.

In Ninjaball Run, Zane realizes that "Darnagom" is just an anagram of "Garmadon" and that Lord Garmadon is trying to destroy the dojo so Lloyd will have no where to train.

In the episode,Child's Play, Zane, along with the other Ninja are turned into kids by Lord Garmadon and are chased by the Grundle, and at the end of the episode he and the other Ninja returned to normal.

In the episode The Last Voyage, Zane and the rest of the ninja sail to an island with a prison tower. When the ninja get to the top, Dr. Julien greets them and takes them in. Inside he seats them and haves a robot serve them tea. There, Dr. Julien tells Zane what happened after his apparent death. After Dr. Julien turned off Zane's memory switch, he really did pass away, but Samukai revived with a special elixir in return that he create the Skeleton Army's vehicles. When Dr. Julien refused, Samukai locked him in the prison tower with a Leviathan to keep guard, promising the doctor if he did what he said, he would see Zane again. However, time elapsed.

After he finished telling his story, the Leviathan comes and sends out a tentacle with eyes to check on Dr. Julien, while the others hide. After it goes away, Dr Julien and the ninja work together to fix the Bounty's rocket boosters. As the Bounty takes off, the Leviathan grabbed the ship. Zane jumped into the water and freed the creature from its chains using star teeth. Freed, the Leviathan lets the Bounty go, they fly off to the Island of Darkness.

Appearance
Usually seen in white clothing, Zane has a silver, formerly light blond, tall flattop haircut. He has a control panel in his chest which he can open up, containing switches for Vision, Audio, Voice, Power, Memory, and Humor — he also has a set of switches in his arm. In season 3, his power source is found in his chest.

Age
Zane was created over 40 years ago, and thus, is by far the oldest of his fellow ninja. Due to his robotic nature, he does not age. He is designed to have the appearance of a young man in his late teens.

His new Titanium body is, at most, two years old, as of the events of Day of the Departed.

Personality
Zane is undoubtedly the most reserved and serious of the Ninja. He has little understanding of humor or even basic social conventions (as seen when he walked into the bathroom, despite Cole being on the toilet). He also has a very strong bond with Master Wu, being the most polite and respectful towards him. The other Ninja are occasionally wary of his strange habits, but they quickly learn to accept him for it regardless.

Initially, Zane was melancholy over his inability to remember his parentage or where he came from. He eventually accepted that the Ninja were his family and that their home was his home as well, but he never truly gave up on finding details of his past. Upon learning his origins, he was briefly struck by shock and depression, only to overcome his feelings and accept his robotic nature when he restored his memories. When he eventually reunited with his father/creator, Dr. Julien, he readily accepted him as his father figure.

Likewise, Zane is a very intelligent Nindroid. He has been through many changes lately, but is glad to be back with the Ninja team. His close friend, P.I.X.A.L., is now a part of his artificial intelligence, so he has "company" everywhere he goes. He wields the power of ice. After rebuilding himself as the Titanium Ninja, Zane has become even more accepting of his own robotic traits.

Trivia

 * Zane's creator is Dr. Julien, who served the role of his father. This makes Zane's full name Zane Julien
 * Zane may be based on Data, the pale-skinned android from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
 * His battle-damaged 2014 variant is exclusive to the NinjaCopter.