Template:Knight
Clay Moorington is one of the five main heroes of Nexo Knights. He is an orphan whose Home town is said to be the tiny and boring town of Dnullib[1] He strives to be the best knight he can be and is the leader of the Nexo Knights, and main protagonist of the animated series and the franchise as a whole. He is the son of Ruina and the nephew of Merlok 2.0.
Description
Clay is the leader of the Nexo Knights in a quest to save Knighton from Jestro.
2016 LEGO.com Description
"Clay is all about being a knight. He grew up as an orphan and spent every day striving to become one. Now that his dream has come true, he spends every day training his moves, learning new skills or fighting evil. And when he finally sleeps, he dreams of all the heroic deeds he will perform tomorrow."
2017 LEGO.com Description
"As Clay grew up, he dreamed every day of becoming a NEXO KNIGHTS hero. Now he is the leader of the NEXO KNIGHTS team, the knightliest knight in the kingdom and the most dedicated defender of the realm. He has just been instrumental in destroying the Book of Monstrox, rescued his friend Jestro from evil and been hailed by the King and Queen. So now he can rest…
Ha ha, very funny. Clay never rests. He knows that evil never sleeps. And if evil really does sleep, Clay is sure it is never more than a power nap. So now Clay is a teacher at the Knights Academy, training the next generation of NEXO KNIGHTS heroes. Clay expects a lot from his students and he is a hard teacher. Some of his knights in training say it is almost like he is made of stone. That is because fighting evil is no joke. Not with Clay as your teacher anyway. His pre-fight punchlines are just horrible."
2017 Stone Clay LEGO.com Description
"Clay has always lived by simple rules. Be strong, valiant and true. Never let the enemy see your vulnerable side. Be hard as a rock against your adversaries. Well, now he has taken that last bit to a whole new level. The Forbidden Power that hit him has turned him completely to stone. And then the Cloud of Monstrux zapped him bad. Not good. If Clay was a great adversary in battle before, try fighting an indestructible, 10 times as heavy version of him. On top of all that Monstrux’ zap has awoken something in Clay and he is displaying mysterious powers and a lot of repressed anger. Could it have something to do with that mysterious witch Ruina Stoneheart? She has a certain hold on Clay."
The Book of Monsters description, by Jestro
DEAR KING HALBERT, Clay is a true leader. Loyal, honourable, selfless and always puts his friends and his Knights' Code above everything else. I find him inspirational. He is solid and earthy-just like his name, Clay. He always encourages me, and even laughs at my jokes when they're not funny! What a great guy!
Personality
Often referred to as the "uptight knight," Clay's defining characteristics are that he likes to be organized and dedicated to knighthood. Though sometimes coming across as somewhat reserved, Clay is also quite emotionally-driven, and values justice above all. He can be shown to be somewhat shy, embarrassed, nervous, or otherwise bashful when he is shown on the big screens unexpected in public. But when it comes to interviews, he can also show to be brave and daring to answer the questions asked. He states that he has based his entire identity on The Knight's Code and it's values.
Though usually confident in his abilities and skills, sometimes to almost arrogant degrees at times, it is revealed that in Fright Knight that Clay has a fear of failing, especially in failing to uphold the values of The Knight's Code. Obsessed with training, he prefers to spend every waking hour either training and preparing for battle, or actually battling the forces of evil. In The Power of Merlok, Clay mentions that he only sleeps 2 hours a day. This was reinforced further in the episode Back to School as he was shown to be fully dressed and training in the simulation room despite being 5:30 am in the morning.
Valuing hard work and practice with a need to micromanage and lead, this often causes Clay to butt heads with Lance often due to their conflicting values and beliefs. However, even though they don't always quite see eye-to-eye, the two respect each other. Clay can also often be seen trying to hide a smile when Lance is cracking a joke or making a pun, or sometimes even joining along with his antics, implying they share a similar, corny sense of humor. Similarly, he usually disapproves Aaron's childish and immature behavior. But despite that, the two are quite good friends and Clay can see the potential within Aaron and asked him to become his successor temporarily when he is absent.
Appearance
Clay, like all the other Nexo Knights, has a newly-molded helmet and shoulder armor that depicts his trademark family crest on his torso. His suit's torso and legs are a gray colour, while his arms are silver and his hips and hands a dark blue colour. He is complete with orange highlights.
Without his helmet, he has spiky, brown hair. He is usually seen with a smirking expression. He is very hardworking even though he is already a knight. It's no wonder why he is at the top of his class. He's is show to be quite bossy in most episodes when he is the leader. But he soon learns that everyone has their own free will to do what they want to do. He is also caring, compassionate and kind as shown in the series.
Weapons and Abilities
In battles, Clay is a skillful knight, with unique fighting style against his enemies Clay is also trained in using swords in battles, making him a great swordsman. Clay also has a shield that he can use to download Nexo Powers.
In season 4, Clay discovered he has an incredible ability with magic and even more powerful than his mother or uncle. However, using the magic within him seems to wear him out physically, as he's too drained to join into battle after being released from his magic stasis. However, he's able to figure out how to download the nexo powers data from the system into himself.
Synopsis
Clay had aspired to be a knight ever since he was a little kid, long before he'd ever met Merlok or any of the knights. Born as the son of Ruina Stoneheart, formerly known as Wanda Moorington, and an unknown father, but the majority of people suspect that Mr. Griffons as his father since they share the same face expressions and hairstyle or Monstrux would be his father since he knew his last name all from the beginning, anyway Clay is the descendant of ancient magicians and The Magic Council. Due to his mother succumbing to the corruption of forbidden powers due to Monstrox's influence, he was left alone in Dnullib at a young age working as a sweeper until he was found by Merlok the Magician 5 years after his mother's descent to darkness. Without Clay knowing that he was biologically his uncle, Merlok took custody of Clay and the two of them eventually moved to the main capital of the kingdom, with Merlok being acquainted to King Halbert and Clay met Macy as kids.
After having taken custody of him, Merlok would often take Clay to watch the knight games with him. However, having a penchant for getting in trouble and standing up for what's right even as a child, Clay had interrupted the games on at least two occasions. In one instance he had been watching one of the knight games with Merlok when he noticed that a thief had stolen a young damsel's purse on the spectator's stands and runs away through the arena.
Clay immediately sprung into action and stop the thief by taking a lance and a mecha steed from one of the competitors to fling the thief away and return the purse to the young girl. Later he would interrupt another game when he noticed that one of two competing knights cheated in a competition and was about to win unfairly. With the odds against the other knight, Clay chose to stick up for him and fight off the cheating knight himself. This act impressed the other knight and so he bestowed his sword to Clay.
Fearing that Clay's latent magical abilities may corrupt him the same way his sister was corrupted by forbidden powers, Merlok hid Clay's magical heritage and potential from him in the hopes he'd never discover his powers. Merlok would also encourage Clay to follow his dreams of becoming a knight and sent him to the knights' academy to help him achieve his dreams. After having been sent to the Knight's Academy to train, Clay would meet the future Nexo Knights and Jestro. Sometimes Clay's uptight and loner behavior had led him into a few disagreements with his classmates, leading to Merlok having to advise him. The six of them formed a tournament team together, with only five of them graduating.
Season 1
Clay graduated along with his friends, Aaron, Lance, Axl, and Princess Macy in the 151st annual Knights' Academy graduation battlebration. Worried about Jestro after his disastrous show, Clay sought him out to try reassuring and reasoning with him to no avail. In the stress of Jestro having betrayed the kingdom, Clay provoked Lance into sparring with him as he felt Lance wasn't taking the situation seriously. Eventually, since none of the others were fit enough to become the leader of the team, he chose to become the unofficial leader of the Nexo Knights of Knighton. His position was finally made official after having proved himself as a knight and developing the maturity and responsibility to properly lead the rest of the team, and the whole team came to approve of and accept him as their leader.
However, in the climax of the season, Jestro had split the team up, each pursuing a different monster. Having overpowered each of the knights, Clay was captured like the others. Having been tied to a spinning target, he attempts to reason with Jestro only to have his attempt spurned. After having been spun on the target continuously by the lava monsters, he was later freed by Aaron and Macy. During Jestro's attack on Knightonia, he was given the most powerful NEXO power by Merlok and banished Jestro, The Book of Monsters, and their monster army - if only for a while. He then congratulated Macy when she was officially knighted and announced an official member of the team.
Webisodes
Clay decides to have a walk around the forest to have fresh air and promises his teammates that he would not get into any battles. However, two Lava monsters had followed him semi-discreetly and it initially seems that he does not notice them. But this is not the case as he noticed the monsters, and immediately fought them despite promising not to get into any late-night skirmishes. Using a new Nexo Power given by Merlok 2.0, he defeated the monsters easily by using a new Nexo Power to allow the top part of the vehicle become a flying jet. Upon returning to the Fortrex, he denied that he did not fight during the walk, much to the annoyance of Macy and Aaron who have seen through his lies.
Joust Games on Aaron
Clay along with the knights supports Aaron in the knight games tournament. However when the lava monsters attempt to sabotage, Clay attempts to step in but Macy dissuades him as stepping him to help might disqualify Aaron from the competition.
Season 2
[To be added later]
Season 3
[To be added later]
Season 4
In season 4, the NEXO Knights placed the petrified version of him on the roof of the Fortrex, saying that he's a statue made to honor him for his bravery and heroic deeds. And during the intense battle against the Cloud of Monstrox, Jestro, Roberto Arnoldi, and their army, the cloud saw Clay and zapped him with his lightning in order to bring him to life. Sadly, Clay was turned evil and served as Monstrox's most loyal and trusted servant. Clay, now alive in his stone form, calling himself 'The Gray Knight', is the indestructible stone warrior of Monstrox. The team, especially Macy, were all hesitant to battle him but battled him in the end. But because of his incredible strength and rage, they were all forced to retreat by Merlok. It's not long after Clay decided to attack the Fortrex and destroy Merlok. Macy and the knights tried to reason with him, but he won't listen to them. In the end, Merlok attempted to use his magic to reverse the dark magic that was inside him but failed to do so, managing only to sever his connection with Monstrox and inadvertently blasting him across the whole kingdom, with Clay waking up the next day, still made of stone, in an unknown place.
He woke up without remembering anything about himself or anything else in the town of 'Nothing Hill'. Due to his amnesia, Jorah Tightwad manipulated him and used him to make money for himself. He was told by him to destroy the villagers' houses if they do not hand him any money. Luckily, Macy and Lance were there to save the day and helped Clay regain his memories. Soon after, he overheard the team talking about him and his uncontrollable rage and the fact that he is not himself. He then left the team to find his inner peace and learn how to control his rage. While meditating, a vision of Ruina Stoneheart appeared, telling him that he is not alone as a figure appeared. After that, he was very eager to destroy Jestro's army and bring them to their graves. In the next battles, he rejoins his friends, as cold and angry as ever, and is quite vengeful. In the episode 'Krakenskull', it was proven that he has magic within him since he could destroy Lord Krakenskull and his indestructible stone army.
After that, he battled Ruina Stoneheart in the following episode. Shortly, she revealed to him that he wasn't supposed to be a knight and revealed that she is also his mother. She said that even Merlok knows about this. She also said that she cursed him so that he would follow in her footsteps when he is older. Upon hearing this, he is even more vengeful and even more eager to destroy her, not believing her words. Back at the Fortrex, Merlok confirms that the information stated by Ruina was true and made him burst out in anger again. Then, seeing that he can't control his rage anymore, he found a way to use his magic to give Macy a NEXO power that makes him turn back into stone, stiff as ever, much to Macy's misery. Later, as Merlok was explaining to the team, he heard everything and tied to use his magic to destroy his stone self and regains his human form. He and Merlok then combined their magic and destroyed the Stone Colossus of Ultimate Destruction. At the ending of the season, he and Merlok will learn magic together and find Clay's mother.
Season 5
was supposed to air in July 2018. In season 5, the tech invasion will begin and Monstrox will become a digital evil necromancer of the OS, a cause started by Ruina Stoneheart, also known as Wanda Moorington, Clay's mother. was supposed to focus entirely on Clay and his background.
Quotes
- "We're powering up to power you down, Jestro!" - Clay, Alliance of the Fortrex.
Trivia
- His name is a play on the name "claymore ," which is a double-handed, Scottish sword.
- A LEGO sculpture of Clay was presented at the London Toy Fair 2016.
- The TV show simply depicts his shield's crest as a falcon split between blue and white, instead of being two shades of blue with a white accent and an upside-down halo as it's depicted on the physical minifigure's shield.
- He is said to have magic ancestry and has magic abilities beyond powerful than Merlok himself and his mother, making him one of the only wizards still alive in Knighton, after Merlok and Ruina.
- His father has yet to be revealed in the series.
- He calls himself "The Gray Knight" in a few episodes in season 4
- In The Knight's Code: A Training Guide he states that his favorite Nexo Power is Power of United Knights.
- Clay's role was similar to Zane from Lego Ninjago.
- Both characters have a super serious personality with a strong principle in being a responsible character. Clay has a highly disciplined life, so does Zane as Zane is a robot in Lego Ninjago. Clay is even more mature than Zane and more hardworking than Zane in terms of personality, as Zane had a humor switch. Both characters are reserved, and the most serious of the team.
- Clay was the most polite and respectful towards Merlok 2.0. Zane was the most polite and respectful of Master Wu.
- Both characters were very loyal to their team and willing to sacrifice themselves in the series. Both characters have died or had some sort of transformation during their series. Clay had transformed into stone in episode 29 of Nexo Knights, while Zane had died and a funeral was held in episode 34 of Ninjago. He later came back because he rebuilt himself.
- In a coincidence, both characters made a major sacrifice near the end of season 3 of both series.
- Both characters' death was a major story arc in their series, which were quite heartbreaking.
- Both characters were well-known for their little understanding of humor in the series.
- Both characters were good at planning battle tactics and shown to be a reliable character.
- Both characters have a great relationship with a falcon. Clay's shield has a falcon split between blue and white, while the falcon in Ninjago was a good friend of Zane.
- He also shares some similarities as Lloyd from Ninjago;
- Both hold latent innate powers within them which serves as a pivotal plot in their respective shows
- Both have parents that had fallen into darkness due to greater antagonists prior to the series; Lloyd's father Garmadon gradually became evil due to the Great Devour's venom while Clay's mother Wanda turned evil due to Monstrux's influence corrupting her magical codex
- Both were taken into custody by their uncles as a child; Lloyd was brought right to Wu after being repeatedly betrayed by the Serpentine in the first season while Clay was taken in by Merlok 5 years after his mother's downfall
Gallery
- Main article: Category: Clay Moorington images
Appearances
Set appearances:
- 70315 Clay's Rumble Blade
- 70317 Fortrex
- 70330 Ultimate Clay
- 70321 General Magmar’s Siege Machine of Doom
- 70351 Clay's Falcon Fighter Blaster
- 70356 The Stone Colossus of Ultimate Destruction
- 72004 Tech Wizard Showdown
TV series:
- Season 1
- Season 2
- Season 3
- Season 4
- Season 5
Webisodes:
- Alliance of the Fortrex
- Jestro the Bad... The Really, Really Bad
- Good Knight Clay Moorington
Games:
Books:
- LEGO Nexo Knights: Mini Guide
- The Book of Monsters
- The Knight's Code: A Training Guide
Other:
- LEGO Club Magazines