I posted this a few days ago:

And I decided to give it a digital glow up!

Yup! The Preeminent herself! And a little background information.

In this AU, the Preeminent is not necessarily evil in the events of Possession. She was greatly irritated that so many people in Ninjago were repulsed by death, and in turn were repulsed by her. Sure, she was created as a prison for the most wicked of souls, but she was still a natural part of life. All she wanted was to be understood and respected by others.

So she got a little greedy. She thought that if she was somehow able to cross over into the Realms of the Living, she could show the humans that death was something to revered instead of feared. She thought that she could show them her importance, the importance of death.

When a portal opened in her stomach and released the souls of cursed Anacondrai admirals, she saw her chance. She sent Morro, one of her most trusted warriors, into the Realm of the Living to begin preparations for her arrival. Little did she know, however, that Morro had unfinished business in his old home. His actions would paint the arrival of the Preeminent in a very negative light, and you pretty much know what happens next.

After being defeated by the Elemental Masters during the Battle of Stiix, and then again by Samurai X, the Preeminent was renounced from her Realm status and reduced to nothing more than an ugly slug slithering in the shadows of Ninjago. Most of the cursed souls left her stomach when she was defeated the first time, which left her in a very weakened state. She was still the determined prison for cursed souls, though, so as time passed, more spirits automatically traveled into her. Her strength returned with each new soul, eventually granting her the ability to take on a different form.

She returned to Ninjago City when she was able to move easily once again, traveling in the shadows and learning the language by watching the people. But what she also learned shocked her. After her defeat in Stiix, she was considered to no longer be in existence entirely. They no longer feared death, but it was so much worse than before. Now people not only didn't respect her - they also didn't believe in her!

The apparent truth made her angry. She decided to take it upon herself to remind others that she was still alive, and that her version of death still waited for those who sinned. She started to hunt down various big time criminals in Ninjago, killing them and taking their souls. Her victims consisted of those who schemed, those who lied, and those with too much hubris for their own good. Each new soul made her stronger, which allowed her to kill in greater quantities. News started to spread that death stalked the streets of Ninjago and people started to fear it once more. The Preeminent was finally getting what she wanted.

But it was only half of the picture. The Preeminent used to be the embodiment of the Cursed Realm, yet she had been reduced to a common killer. Her one true wish is to be restored to her former Realm status... and to be relevant in Ninjago's culture again.

Maybe a certain Ghost Boy can help her...

In her new form, she is dressed in a revealing manner to symbolize that death can be tempting, especially to those who truly do not want to live anymore.

She introduces herself to her victims as death; more accurately, she is the death that awaits those who sin against Ninjago.

Her palette in her docile version is based off of this picture of her:

She takes a dark/unassuming palette when she's calm to symbolize that death can come when one least expects it, from the most unlikely of places.

Her palette in her violent version is based off of this picture of her:

The veil in both versions of her is supposed to represent an armillary sash that I often see in Asian folklore. I don't really know if it has any significance - I just thought it looked cool. Though I did find a legend in which it was used by Nezha to disrupt the ocean, and well... the Preeminent technically did something like that.

Is she inspired by Death from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish? Yes. Because he is an awesome character.

Also side note - I listened to these three songs constantly while dreaming her up:

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I just think that they all represent some parts of her character!

Anyways! I hope you enjoy my version of the Preeminent, and maybe you'll see her in the storyline sometime!