*PLEASE watch the video above if you haven't, it's very insightful!!!

This chapter has a butt load of content, so read it if you have the time and attention span, but if you don't, just go to the next chapter and read my final conclusion.

Sorry this whole thing is SUPER messy and very unofficial

"Cole tested himself by climbing one of the tallest mountains on Ninjago Island, and I met him at the peak. Something was troubling Cole, and he was fighting it on the inside. Cole always wants to be the best at everything. When I told him about the potential I saw in him, he was eager to study to become a master of Spinjitzu."
"Cole found himself trapped inside Yang's Haunted Temple, the old Temple of Airjitzu, at sunrise. As the legends foretold, he was transformed into a ghost. He became depressed, believing that as a ghost, he could no longer be a part of the ninja team."
(Excerpts from a canon Ninjago book)

"...Cole, the earth ninja that used to be the team leader- or so we were led to believe... But behind his facade he has the most devastating power of them all: he's nice to his friends and his enemies. Watch Cole as he overcomes the greatest enemies of all: the writers who never give him a season of his own." - LEGO NINJAGO Explained | Everything You NEED to Know about LEGO NINJAGO, LEGO (YouTube)

What's Cole's point in the show, besides that he was pretty much made to fill the 4th spot as ninja?
Is he just a fun and funny character, or does he really have depression (yes he does, watch the video.)?

As shown in *a lot of sources*, in the first few seasons of the show, Cole is known to be serious, responsible, possibly grumpy, and "the leader" of the team. As Lloyd takes the place of the leader, Cole seems to loosen up a bit and mold into the sillier character has been for the last dozen seasons.
Why the change? If one is more "correct", which one??

"Cole was originally thought to be the leader of the team, but this was never officially part of the show and was a result of non-canon media such as websites (LEGO) and books claiming him to be the leader based on his level-headedness." -Ninjago wiki

Wu: Black Ninja is Cole, solid as rock, Master of Earth.
Cole (trying to be... cool?): (To Kai.) Nice to meet you, kid. I got your back, and for the record, there ain't nothing in this world I'm afraid of.
Zane: Except for dragons.
Cole: (Annoyed.) Dragons aren't from this world, Zane. I said in this world.

Cole being responsible (s2):
Cole: Uh, this looks...promising. Remember, guys, Sensei told us our main objective is to train Lloyd, not kick our feet up in some swanky suite. If this is all we can afford, this is all we can afford.

Nya to Cole (s3):
Nya: You know, Cole, you don't get the credit you deserve.
Cole: What do you mean?
Nya: I mean, you always put others ahead of yourself. I know the other ninja get all the attention, but I just want you to know, you're a good guy.

Nya said this of Cole (s4):
"He's handsome, and I suppose I connect with him on a deeper level, but everything's so serious with him, you know what I mean?"

Obviously Harumi said Cole is "the rock and foundation of the team"
Practically, how is Cole stable for the rest of the team??

Cole taking on responsibility (s5):
Cole: Go on, I'll take your share.
Lloyd: Thanks. I owe you one.

Cole's grumpy side in s4:
Lloyd: The team needs you now more than ever.
Cole: I thought I was good with a scythe. Turns out, I'm even better with an axe. Ugh, I'm tired of fighting, Lloyd. Tired of Serpentine, tired of Nindroids, tired of...Jay. Out here, no one knows who you are. No one expects anything of you.
Lloyd: But what would Zane expect? You're the Master of Earth, Cole. you don't belong in trees. Your feet should be on the ground. You can't hide who you are.
Cole: Sorry, Green machine, this is my life now.

My headcanon for Cole is he's like...
"Oldest sibling"
"Heavy end of the log, muddy side of the road"
"Keep it to yourself", "stuff it down", "nothing happened"
"I don't ask how hard the work is; got a rough, indistructable surface"
He is an introvert and very insecure

Patterns after loss of a loved one:
Lilly - mountain climbing; frustration
Zane - lumberjack; anger
Wu - responsibility and pressure on himself

Strength(s): hard worker (basically); "strong", physically and... mentally?
Talent: art, dancing, music (this doesn't really matter for this chapter)
Black: represents grief, depression, mourning
Gorilla: protective; leadership, authority, compassion, generosity and honor
Copes with: food, fighting/exercise

Why is Cole the only one not smiling in his s1-s2 intro?
- He is known as being more serious, and the others (namely Kai, Jay, and Lloyd) are more fun-loving and view him as serious.
- He is the most responsible out of the group and feels like he has to look out for the others, so this naturally takes a toll on his otherwise fun-loving personality, making him often look like a grumpy person.

Facts we know (evidence):
- Cole used to be afraid of dragons until he got to know Rocky.
- He seems to care for Rocky more than the other ninja care for their own dragons, as Cole was the most upset when the dragons had to leave in "Snakebit". He was also the happiest to see that Rocky had returned as the Ultra Dragon.
- Cole ultimately conquered all of the phobias he displayed in the show, having lost his fear of dragons when becoming Rocky's friend, making peace with the Serpentine, embracing his transformation into a ghost, and singing in front of others.
- According to Tommy Andreasen, Cole's greatest fear is not living up to the promise to his mother (however, this is just a speculation).
- "He was also worried to face his dad and dance in Season 1. He had a fear of ghosts in Season 5, which he was also able to overcome after turning into a ghost and facing Master Yang. This was the same with singing in front of people in Season 8. Cole has had the most fears expressed and conquered, despite acting like the bravest of the ninja."

What we know (taken directly from "Personality" in the Cole article in Ninjago wiki):

Cole used to be more uptight and strategic, disapproving of Kai's impulsiveness. Before meeting Wu, Cole lacked direction and purpose. At this time, his mother just passed away and he was struggling to take care of the family himself. As a ninja, Cole thoroughly enjoys helping others in need and feels accomplished with a job well done (almost workaholic which I might talk about later).

Cole may act on instinct or impulse without thinking first, as seen in "Wishmasters", where two of his wishes went to waste.

He is shown to have fatherly hehe tendencies, caring for baby Wu as his own in Season 8, even going to the extent of calling him Cole Jr. before figuring out the baby's identity. He was often shown being protective of the deaged Wu as well. Throughout the season, Cole was his main caretaker. Another example of these tendencies was in Season 11, where Cole threatened Krag with a parent-like punishment: to not let him play video games.

Cole has kept a strong relationship with his father, Lou, ever since Season 1. Before, he would lie to his father through letters about his dance practice, not wanting to disappoint him. Whenever the Royal Blacksmiths would be performing, Cole would point out his dad proudly. Since then as well, Cole has been more confident in his dancing and singing. He occasionally does the move Triple Tiger Sashay in a fight and in Season 8, he openly sang.

He is also addictive, mainly his love for cake. And food and eating... that's what the wiki said. Just sayin'.

At the beginning of Season 8, Jay comments that Cole has become a party pooper since Master Wu had gone missing after Season 7. This was due to Cole giving up cake. It seems like a drastic change for him, and may be inferred that the loss of Wu affected Cole immensely. Similarly, the death of his mother, Lilly, prior to the series, impacted him and forced him to become more responsible at a younger age, explaining his tendency to become a leader and take more responsibility to deal with loss. Ok so taking on work, responsibility, and personal goals are forms of a distraction or grieving for him (it was pointed out in season 8 that Cole grieved his mom's death by mountain climbing). Workaholic?

He and Zane are the most serious and focused of the ninja. However, that does not stop him from allowing his one-track mind or competitiveness to get the best of him. Once he really sets his mind to something, he will remain interested in it until it is fulfilled (for instance, when he was itching for a fight in "Island of Darkness").

Cole is one to put himself at risk before his friends, as shown when he gave Jay the Jadeblade during Season 4. He has shown sympathy toward Zane, Lloyd, young Wu and Jay when they were melancholic. However, when trying to comfort his allies, he seems to have difficulty finding the correct words to do so, only able to accomplish the task with the example of his teammates. He always encourages his friends to do the right things but tries not to force them. This happened with Jay in Season 6 and Wu in Season 9. If it comes down to it though, he will try to solve the problem. He tends to be patient and give others the benefit of the doubt, as seen in "Scavengers" when he told the others to not be so hard on Lloyd, who was trying to lead at the time.

Sometimes Cole is shown to not think things through. One of these occurrences was in Day of the Departed when he was bitter about being turned into a ghost and went into the temple to face off against Yang alone. He realized the depths of his actions and the effect they had on his friends and felt guilty, though in the end he managed to get past his inner turmoil and defeat Yang. He showed understanding to Yang's plight and was able to get him to overcome his pain and attempted to get him to go through the rift with him.

Cole has been shown to make allies easily. Examples of this include Master Yang, Krag in the Never-Realm, and the Upply in Shintaro. Cole seems to be very understanding and willing to help those who need it. Cole is also never willing to leave someone behind, as shown in Season 4 with the factory workers and eliminated Elemental Masters (actually he was going to leave them until he overheard the guards saying they'd pay for his actions). This was an early example in the show of his promise to his mother to "always stand up to those who are cruel and unjust", even though the phrase was never shown until Season 13.

Rarely does Cole back down from a fight, for better or worse. When Jay aggravated Cole about Nya, Cole was willing to fight back. However, it doesn't seem like it was about Nya as much as it was about seeing who was the better of the two. However, in the end his maturity manages to shine through, with him finally ending the fight in the Tournament of Elements.

Season 11 showed how sensitive Cole is to keep his friends happy and how he hates letting them down. This is most evident when Cole felt extreme guilt for losing the Traveler's Tea.

In Season 12, he and Kai heroically both sacrificed themselves for the others to win the Speedway Five-Billion.

Cole has a lot of ideas that seem to typically be shut down or cause doubt. In Season 4, as he tried to find the trigger for a secret passage in Kai's suite, the other ninja questioned him (maybe they think he doesn't know what he's doing; he's not the brains of the team; he's probably messed up before). Later in the season as he and the factory workers plan an escape, his plan of rolling into giant egg rolls was rejected. His argument against a Roto Jet was also ignored. In Season 13, Cole seeing a purple creature in his bedroom wasn't believed by the ninja or Wu. Later, Cole tries to lead Master Wu, Vania, and the Lowly out of the mountain by making choices like riding the minecart and using the stone mech to push it. Not only was there doubt, but when they barely succeeded each time, Cole would claim dizzily, "Another great idea!"

Cole has a lot of confidence in his super strength. In Season 4 after Chen took his elemental power, Cole yelled that they couldn't take his super strength, in which he was quickly proven wrong. This happened again when the ninja were put in jail. In Season 8, his advice to Lloyd to impress Harumi was to act tough and flex his muscles. This might be related to his competitiveness.

When he is alone, he often talks to himself.

According to Tommy Andreasen, Cole "is a selfless empathic person ... as simple as that".

Lego.com (non-canonical) descriptions:

[Cole] is disciplined, responsible, strong and a good planner.
In the past, he has had a big job to do keeping his more emotional teammates under control.
But now he is more relaxed and willing to let others take the lead sometimes. Exactly what I said!
Kai jokes that Cole is the only ninja he's ever heard of who brings a book to battles, so he won't get bored. So Kai is bragging that Cole is so good at and likes battles... ehhh?

He may ooze confidence, but the Ninja of Earth is suitably grounded. He loves the simple life – the outdoors, rock-climbing, old-school tech and most importantly: cake. Cole is the calm center of the team. However, there is one thing that he's afraid of – dragons! He has to overcome his fears to ride his Earth Dragon, learning that they're not that scary and a great way to enter the Underworld.

s2- Cole's confidence in his own raw power is put to the test when he discovers that their new adversaries are made of an indestructible substance. Faced with impossible odds, Cole will prove that the greatest strength comes from the inside. ok whatever

s3- When a matchmaking console reveals to Nya that Cole is her perfect match, it jeopardizes her relationship with Jay. Cole is frustrated over this whole thing, because he has never thought of Nya in a romantic way. The strain on his friendship with her and the new rivalry with Jay are distractions at a time when the whole team needs to be focused on the threat of the Digital Overlord.

s4- Jay and Cole's feud over Nya is still simmering as this adventure begins. When Chen pits them against each other in combat, the other ninja have reason to fear the worst. But the two put aside their differences and ally against Chen, which leads to Cole losing his power. In a desperate circumstance, Cole embraces the fact that a hero has a responsibility to more than just himself or his teammates, and leads a rebellion of Chen's slave laborers. Right so we've already established the fact that Cole takes on heavy responsibility for himself and his teammates, now he's taking it on for bigger groups of people. Great.

s5- The threat posed by Morro is particularly hard on Cole (uh, yeah. Everything is). Not only must he battle his greatest fear, ghosts, but he spends a moment too long in the Temple of Airjitzu and becomes one himself! He will learn that change, no matter how frightening, can be an opportunity as well.

s6- Their battle with Morro may have been won, but Cole paid a heavy price ... he's still a ghost! Although he came close to despair, Cole has adapted (yeah, maybe on the surface. Did you watch the video?). He has learned to touch physical objects, yet still "ghosts" AKA phases through walls and he can now access all his elemental powers huh? ok. Cole's new skills serve the ninja well, until he makes a wish too many and is trapped in Nadakhan's Djinn Blade. Wow this source is sooo reliable. He wasn't trapped in the blade because of his wishes, it was because of Clancee's wish.

"Some of us may look a little different, but like our team some things never change." I think referring to Cole himself, as a ghost.

Always keen to challenge himself ya think?, one day Cole decided to climb the tallest mountain in NINJAGO® world...

Cole is revered for his strength and bravery.

It doesn't take long for Cole to realize his dream of fully living inside a game is more like a nightmare, with mysterious villains and impossible races and that terrible moment when, in the name of friendship, he – no, we can't even mention it. It's too sad, and we're still not over it OH REALLY SHUT THE FRIK UP. YEAH JUST LIKE IN MotO.

MotM- In the Dungeons of Shintaro, Cole finds himself confronting the demons of his own past whoa ok and the unresolved specter of his mother's passing. Lilly died when Cole was young and he has never come to terms with that. The last words Cole spoke to her were a promise that someday, somehow, Cole would make her proud OK SHUT THE FIK UP FOR REAL, THAT IS NOT A FACT AT ALL. In the bowels of Shintaro Mountain, Cole finds the chance to fulfill that promise when he learns of the fabled "Spinjitzu Burst" and uses it to defeat a foe that his mother once faced. But to do so, he must become a leader in his own right typo??.

FIND BALANCE, WITH COLE - Cole is one of the most powerful ninjas, with strength that can cause earthquakes! But even Cole, the most balanced of ninjas, can become angry. When that happens, battles are lost. Cole knows that to become a Master, we must control our emotions to achieve Balance. Yeah yeah LEGO I'm done with you. You are as unreliable as sh--.

Spinjitzu Brothers - Cole is a member of Master Wu's ninja team. As the Earth Ninja, he wields the elemental power of Earth and supports his friends with his confidence and great physical strength.

Main points so far:
- He is "nice", selfless, empathic, and understanding
- Feels the need to be responsible for others, very hard-worker, (overly) self-disciplined
- Uptight and strategic (at least compared to the others)
- Fatherly and protective
- Confident in his strength/powers, and according to Lego, a confident person (which no one should agree with at all)
- He struggles with phobias, anxiety, and overly stressing and overreacting
- Addictive: copes with food, responsibilities, and physical activity and discipline - a sort of workaholic

Why does Cole sometimes act without thinking? (my headcanon)
- He is probably overwhelmed in the moment
- I don't got anything else right now, it's 1:30am and I'm dead tired.
- Comments?

Why will Cole rarely back down from a fight (competitive)?
- He is confident in his physical and elemental abilities
- and for some reason (possibly non-canonically) he wants to show it off
- or he's just really good at it
- Maybe it's his way of trying to prove himself,
- to not be a "failure"
- prove his strength and potential
- possibly to prove himself to himself and others?
- He wants to be good at everything (canon) 

What's up with Cole facing and overcoming his fears?
- Personally, I'm not sure what this says about him on a deep level. The only thing I know for sure is that that Cole is a lovable, angsty character :D
- If you watched the video at the top, it says this is linked to his depression, which is very probable
- Basically his fears are linked to his depression and he has to constantly overcome them.

Okie dokie...
Let me know what you think! I'd love to hear your opinions & theories on this!