Welcome to the official blog of Ninjago: If They Were Cats, a Ninjago AU/fanfiction created by @blizzardream all the way back in 2021 with a pencil, a keyboard, some bubblegum and a wish.
As the very straightforward name implies, the ninja are cats. I've catified most everyone, with a few exceptions. References are under the cut!
Here's all you need to know about the blog, and how to find your way around!
This post will change and update over time. Last update: 3/26/26
Character References
I still have yet to cover Morro, Wu, and Garmadon, as well as Cryptor and Cryonix. Hang tight, I will finish and share references for them in the future.
Strawpage for all references is here!
This is still unfortunately a WIP :( I'm not done with all of them yet. However, I am finished with the MAIN 6 NINJA!
I also have a basic reference for Titanium Zane, for the purpose of show redraws. This design is not canon to ITWC's storyline:
Tags Guide
This is slightly different to how I tag Ninjago stuff on my main blog, by the way.
Text in red has a link attached, and text in purple does not.
#ninjago itwc - Anything regarding all ITWC CANON events/concepts/etc. I do screenshot/scene redraws from the shows and other official content, which is NOT necessarily canon to this AU! This tag is to help keep them separate.
#ninjago mos - Anything involving Masters of Spinjitzu, or the first 15 seasons (+ pilot) (+ specials) of the original show. Yes I'm counting the WildBrain era in this one, even though those seasons don't have the subtitle in the logo.
#tlnm - Anything involving The Lego Ninjago Movie. Mainly here because of screenshot redraws, there's a lot of cool frames from the movie that I'd love to redraw!
#ninjago dr - Anything involving Dragons Rising, the sequel series to the original MoS.
#blizzardream art - Like my main blog, this is my art tag! Any post with my art attached will have this tag on it... there's gonna be a lot.
#bliz talks too much - Like my main blog, this tag is on any post where I ramble or yap a little too much. It's a great indicator for longposts or random bouts of me yelling into the void about something or other.
#screenshot redraw - Listed here for convenience's sake. I like redrawing screenshots or scenes from the original show, or anything related to it - VA interviews, books, comics, you name it!
#itwc designs - Tag used in conjunction with one of the show tags and my art tag, so the wider community knows this is my specific brand of catified Ninjago. And also as an indicator to look at this post in this blog as an explanation for why everyone's cats and not humans LOL
#plot talk - Plot talk! Where I talk about the plot or aspects of the ITWC story.
#dawning of destiny - Anything regarding the story and plot of Dawning of Destiny, the (planned) first book of ITWC.
Note about character tags:
#ninjago [character's name] - Used mainly for screenshot/scene redraws, as show canon is separate from ITWC canon.
#itwc [character's name] - Used strictly for characters within the ITWC canon.
I got a little bored yesterday and ended up making these on a whim (in-game conversations from Deadlock)
first one is more accurate to ITWC while the second one is more accurate to the show,, I have some ideas in mind for Akita in ITWC but none of them are exactly set in stone yet. However, that doesn't mean that these two are mutually exclusive :)
In a similar vein to this post, I just finished a new spoiler banner for Dragons Rising Season 4 Part 1 :)
Under the read more because there are obviously spoilers, if you haven't seen any of the teasers or trailers^^
honestly the reason Cole, Zane, and Pix are just sitting there waiting is because the trailers don't tell us ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT THEY'RE DOING OTHER THAN THAT THEY'RE THERE
and this one introduces Euphrasia and Wyldfyre finally!! Euphie's a snow leopard and Wyfy's a lioness.
let's hope I get all the right tags on this post... oh boy.
for basic context, Jay kinda has a crisis when he reunites with Nya because he's like "oh shit. I can't replace my best friend (Nya) with my new best friend (Cole) that I made on the journey to save my previous best friend (Nya) oh shit oh fuck" and Nya and Cole have to reassure him that there's no unsaid rule that he can only have one best friend. Jay is so relieved he cries
this is intended to be completely platonic btw (they're all besties) but if you wanna interpret them another way go ahead
I've had their designs in consideration for like 5 years now, I have very specific and deliberate reasons that their colors are the way they are. No, I did not base them solely on their hair colors in the show. No, I will not be explaining them here yet. Perhaps in a future post.
I realized just now that I've never really talked about the plot or premise of ITWC at all, but mainly because I've been going back and forth on what I want and what I don't want about this story and I'm super indecisive. Literally the art is the only thing that's consistent about this AU...
I guess I can start with the basic setup? Where every character is at at the start of the story, basically:
Kai and Nya: Siblings and littermates, living together on the streets of the red-brick blacksmithing town of Ignacia. Kai is the older littermate, and tends to be overprotective of Nya - something that was only reinforced by the cause of the scar on his face. Nya often meets up with Jay behind Kai's back. At the start of the story Nya is captured by Garmadon, but surprisingly not killed. She meets Lloyd while imprisoned, and escapes with his help.
Jay: Nya's best friend, who lives with an old human couple that run Ignacia's junkyard. He and Nya hang out in the junkyard often when Kai isn't keeping an eye on her, which is usually when he's asleep. Sometimes he tries his luck making friends in town, but his overly cheerful demeanor and tendency to be talkative have resulted in most of his connections in town being rather superficial.
Cole: Lived with his father as a housecat after his mother died. His human caretakers were nice, but his father often discouraged him from following in his mother's footsteps and told him stories of the dangers in the outside world to keep him inside. Feeling pressured, he ran away from home and met Wu while exploring the wilds. Now he is training to fight under Wu's tutelage, and wants to help his master find his family.
Wu: A wandering spirit who is spending his second life looking for the successors of the previous Elemental Masters, as well as his missing nephews. He bumps into Cole by chance, and has started mentoring and training him in the ways of the Elemental Masters in hopes that he can do what they could not. The two have teamed up to look for the rest of the successors, as well as Wu's nephews.
Lloyd: A kitten and the son of Lord Garmadon. He loves his father, but knows something is going on with him, and it feels wrong. He meets Nya while she's a prisoner of Garmadon, and accidentally helps her escape - he gets picked up and inadvertently tags along with her.
Morro: A lost spirit desperate to find his little brother, Lloyd. He holds resentment towards Garmadon for his current state of being, and his number one priority is looking for Lloyd. He's done everything he could have possibly done with the winds around him, but still hasn't found even a clue to Lloyd's whereabouts.
Cryonix: One of the two Generals of the Nindroid army, next to his brother, Cryptor. Cryonix is the brains and tactics of the Nindroids, and is in charge of intel collection and battle strategies. It excels in stealth and observation, although it has many other functions built into its body that make it proficient in close combat. He is sent by his master, the Overlord, on a mission to Ninjago to gather information about its geography.
Cryptor: One of the two Generals of the Nindroid army, although between him and his brother he is the more prominent general. He excels in combat, and is always ecstatic to sharpen his claws and draw blood with them. Although he and Cryonix share leadership over the Nindroids, Cryptor is more favored by their master the Overlord. He is more often assigned to lead the Nindroids into battle and to get their paws dirty, while Cryonix mainly handles reconnaissance and is behind-the-scenes in the Overlord's grand plans.
For today, some assorted tablet doodles/concepts related to the canon of ITWC. The first two are kinda old LOL so sorry if the designs seem super inconsistent there T-T
