Ninjago

Ninja Dragon Riyu's Battle

Riyu gets a jaw, a sword, and some real growing pains.

Brick Rated Score

3.6/5

Set 71855 · 2026

Pieces347

Minifigs4

Year2026

Set number71855

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The verdict

The pearl gold armor on this Riyu is genuinely lovely, and giving the dragon an actual working jaw for the first time made me grin the moment I clicked it into place.

But I have to be honest with you, the posing lets it down. Get one arm up and one arm down and this dragon wants to tip right over, and if you clip the sword into his mouth the whole head slumps forward under the weight. This is a set for a Dragons Rising kid who wants Arin, Nya's dragon form, and two new villains on their shelf, not for someone chasing a display centerpiece that holds a dramatic pose on its own.

Best for: Dragons Rising season 4 fans who want the minifig lineup more than a rock solid dragon display piece

The full review

What it is

I will say straight away that the moment I saw the pearl gold plating across Riyu's back, I understood why LEGO keeps bringing this dragon back season after season. Every version gets a little more personality, and this one finally gives him a proper jaw, hinged on a bar and clip so he can actually hold something in his mouth, with a pin through the tongue built specifically for that. It is a small detail but it is the kind of thing that makes a dragon feel like a character instead of a shape. Arin and Nya in her dragon form round out the ninja side, and on the villain side you get the Mutation Monster with its tentacles and a Loyalist, two figures you are not finding easily in other Dragons Rising sets right now.

The catch

Here is the part where I have to be straight with you though. This dragon does not want to stand still. Reviewers who built it found that positioning one arm up and one arm down, which is exactly the kind of dynamic battle pose you would want for a shelf photo, can send the whole model toppling over. Worse, that beautiful new jaw comes at a cost, the neck and shoulder assembly is not strong enough to hold the head level once you add a weapon to the mouth, so the head slumps. For a set built around a single dragon centerpiece, that is a real letdown, and it is worth knowing before you build it expecting a sturdy display piece.

Who it's for

If you have a kid deep into Dragons Rising season 4 who wants Arin, Nya's dragon form, and two new baddies to act out battles with, this delivers exactly that, and the swap compatibility with the weapons from Cole's Mission Mech & Dragon Zane adds a nice bit of cross-set play. If you are an adult collector hoping for a Riyu that holds a fierce static pose on the shelf, I would go in with tempered expectations or be ready to prop him up.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

Building this one moves fast, it is a compact 347 piece set so you are not settling in for an evening, more an after school build with a kid who keeps asking how much longer until the dragon can breathe fire. The dragon frame goes together in logical stages, wings first, then the leg and claw assemblies, then the new jaw mechanism last, which is where the model finally clicks into feeling finished.

The standout piece here is genuinely the pearl gold armor plating, LEGO has upgraded Riyu's look substantially from earlier waves and it catches light in a way flat gold never does. The bar and clip jaw hinge with the pinned tongue is a new functional touch for this character specifically, built to hold his sword or shuriken in his mouth for a menacing pose, even if the structural follow through does not fully support it. Dragon Form Nya and the tentacled Mutation Monster are the two figures worth chasing this set for, since they are exclusive here and not showing up as easy pulls in other 2026 Dragons Rising sets.

Fun facts

01This is the first version of Riyu built with a working jaw, held on with a bar and clip connection rather than being fixed in place.
02The set includes a pin built into the dragon's tongue specifically so it can grip his sword or shuriken accessories in its mouth.
03Weapons from this set are designed to be compatible with Cole's Mission Mech & Dragon Zane, 71854, sold separately, letting kids mix and match armaments between the two sets.
04Dragon Form Nya and the tentacled Mutation Monster are both exclusive to this set within the wave, making it a minifigure pickup for completists even if the dragon posing has issues.