| Cursed Realm | The Preeminent |
The Cursed Realm was one of The Sixteen Realms parallel to Ninjago. It was a network of dark and cavernous channels, branching off each other to form a gloomy maze. It served as the doom of the cursed souls who once dwelt the Sixteen Realms, and also as the stomach of The Preeminent. In order for the living to cross over to this realm, a portal was necessary for the transportation. Most lose their bodies upon entering the realm through death, but those banished while alive retain their bodies within the realm. Only Lloyd has escaped the realm alive with his living body, while most come back as ghosts.
The realm was not only a location, but also an embodiment of a primary antagonist. It served as The Preeminent who sought to curse The Sixteen Realms. Following The Preeminent's demise, the Cursed Realm was flooded by the Endless Sea and destroyed, with nearly all its inhabitants being killed and passing onto the Departed Realm, their final resting place. The only known survivor, Clouse, would go on to cause further chaos in Ninjago shortly afterwards.
Due to several spirits passing from here onto the Departed Realm, villains such as Chen and Morro were able to be resurrected on the Day of the Departed.
History
At an unknown point in time, The Preeminent came into existence alongside the rest of the Sixteen Realms, with her body being the Cursed Realm, acting as the sister realm to Djinjago. The Cursed Realm would eventually go on to function as the afterlife of the most wicked souls in all of the Sixteen Realms, with its prisoners being converted into Ghost Warriors. Despite this, others of less twisted morality ended up in the Cursed Realm as a result of enemies and other acquaintances banishing them there, with their bodies being disintegrated upon entering the Cursed Realm.
Spellbound
After the end of the Serpentine War, Garmadon used the spell to banish Arcturus and the five other Anacondrai Generals into the Cursed Realm as punishment for their war crimes, with the six of them having their souls banished.
The Day of the Dragon
Clouse, attempting to get rid of Garmadon once and for all, summoned a portal to the Cursed Realm using his Magic. Despite his initial triumph, Clouse himself was instead thrown inside by Garmadon, though he managed to keep his body, presumably due to his Magic.
The Corridor of Elders
With the transformed Anacondrai Cultists overwhelming everyone, Lloyd was forced to free Arcturus and the other generals from the Cursed Realm, with Pythor explaining that the powers granted to them as a result of becoming Ghost Warriors could be used to defeat the Cultists. However, as a consequence, Garmadon was banished, trading places with the generals, allowing them to enter Ninjago. Even as a portal to the Cursed Realm was opened, Arcturus and the generals cursed the Cultists, destroying their Anacondrai forms and banishing them to the Cursed Realm. Even as the portal closed, however, the Preeminent succeeded in allowing her commander Morro to escape out into Ninjago.
Kingdom Come
While touring the Ninja around Cloud Kingdom, Fenwick explained the Cursed Realm's status as one of the Sixteen Realms, revealing the inside of the realm to them through an illusion.
Curseworld, Part I
Retrieving the Realm Crystal, Morro proceeded to use its power to open a portal to the Cursed Realm, its strength slowly increasing to allow the entire realm to enter Ninjago. When Lloyd attempted to destroy the Realm Crystal and seal the Cursed Realm away, the Preeminent dragged him into her essence to prevent her plans from being thwarted, even as the entire Cursed Realm entered Ninjago.
Curseworld, Part II
Entering Ninjago, the Preeminent proceeded to devour several civilian souls, dragging them into the Cursed Realm and giving her strength. Meanwhile, Lloyd, recovering from his defeat, navigated the tunnels of the Cursed Realm, evading the Ghost Warriors within and briefly passing by an imprisoned Chen and Clouse, who had yet to be converted into ghosts. Discovering his father chained to the Realm, Lloyd briefly reconciled with him, and with Garmadon's motivation, Lloyd succeeded in escaping through the mouth of the Preeminent.
In order to destroy the Cursed Realm, the Ninja attempted to cripple the foundations of Stiix and drop The Preeminent into the Endless Sea, only for beast to possess the entire city, fusing the Cursed Realm and Stiix together into a massive, ethereal form. With her new body, The Preeminent chased the remaining civilians out into the Endless Ocean, attempting to devour their souls. However, when Nya unlocked her True Potential, she summoned a massive tidal wave that destroyed The Preeminent and the Cursed Realm, killing all of its inhabitants, with the only known survivor being Clouse. Notable deaths in the realm's destruction included Chen, Garmadon and Morro, as well as all the Anacondrai Cultists and the rest of the realm's prisoners.
Later, as a result of the destruction of the Cursed Realm, its sister realm, Djinjago, began to fall apart as well.
The Hatching (Flashback)
While Wu is recalling the events of the Serpentine Wars, the scene showing Garmadon banishing the Anacondrai Generals to the Cursed Realm is shown.
Characters who were banished into the Cursed Realm
- Anacondrai Generals (Released Souls)
- Arcturus (Released Soul)
- Anacondrai Cultists
- Ghost Warriors (formerly)
- Garmadon (formerly)
- Lloyd (temporary prisoner)
Trivia
- Anyone who ends up in the Cursed Realm without being banished there does not become a ghost, which is what happened to Lloyd in Curseworld, Part II.
- In an interview with Dan and Kevin Hageman, they hinted that there may be consequences to destroying a realm, foreshadowing the destruction of Djinjago due to its status as the sister realm of the Cursed Realm.
- Despite the deaths of the Ghost Warriors being linked to their connection with the Cursed Realm, thirty of them managed to survive, as would have Morro had The Preeminent not dragged him into the Endless Ocean. It's possible the Ghost Warriors that died had simply been hit by some of the water from the tidal wave, and too wounded to fly, fell into ocean below as a result.
- Though the bodies of those banished to the Cursed Realm are disintegrated, the bodies of the Anacondrai Cultists were restored to their human forms, presumably due to their bodies, at the time, having been a fusion of their human bodies and the molecules of the Anacondrai generals. Similarly, Clouse kept his physical form, presumably due to magic, though was eventually unable to prevent his ultimate transformation into a Ghost Warrior.
- All of the Cursed Realm's portals are identical. This could be a reasonable explanation of the scene in "The Corridor of Elders," where the Anacondrai Generals travel to the Departed Realm.
- If someone is banished to the Cursed Realm, and the person who cursed them is also cursed, then the people who were cursed first are freed.
Gallery
