Video Game Character of the Month
January 2018
Spyro the Dragon
Spyro Series
Spyro the Dragon
Spyro Series
Overview:
In the gaming industry's current quest to reboot all of the 90's gaming mascots (Sonic, Crash Bandicoot, Rachet and Clank etc.), Spyro has been sadly ignored. So, in order to show everyone's favourite purple dragon some love, I have decided to award him with the most prestigious award in all of gamingdom, the Games Apps and Reviews Video Game Character of the Month Award (which, interestingly, is also the holder of The Longest Award Name in Gamingdom Award).
A little bit of information on Spyro:
He is a rare purple dragon
He is an artisan dragon
He is notably smaller than other dragons in the series
His foster family is made up of dragonflies
He has many elemental abilities as well as great melee skills at his disposal
As a purple dragoon, he also has control over Dragon Time and the element of Aether
However, he is a rather poor flier
In Shadow Legacy he gains the ability to cast various magic spells and the art of Dragon Kata
He has a crush on a faun named Elora but misses his chance with her
He is also in love with Cynder
He is either a cocky, mischievous ,or selfless and adventurous hero depending on the series
He considers Ignitus to be a father figure
He beleived that he was a dragonfly for the first few years of his life
He is part of the Skylanders, and has Dark, Legendary and Mega Ram counterparts
In Skylanders he has a photographic memory
He was brought across to the Skylands by Master Eon, who had read about Spyro's many adventures in the Ancient Scrolls
He is a quick learner and hates when he struggles to learn something
His element in Skylanders is Magic
Origin of Spyro the Dragon:
The character of Spyro was created by Charles Zembilas, who also did designs for Jak and Daxter and Crash Bandicoot. Originally, Spyro was going to be green but this was changed to purple during development because he would blend in with the grass. Spyro's name was also changed from Pete to Spyro. The character was designed to appeal to 8-10 year olds, and, consequently, had to be cute but also mischievous, bratty, unpredictable and something of an upstart. Spyro's design came first and then the game was designed around him. The Spyro series was Insomniac's last resort before going bankrupt, after the failed sales of Disruptor. In-universe, Spyro's origin in the original series, involves his and Sparx's, a dragonfly, eggs being stolen by two thieves. The dragons discovered this theft leading to the thieves dropping the eggs. The red dragon egg then became hot and Spyro hatched from within ,while Sparx hatched from the yellow egg. In 'The Legend of Spyro' series, Spyro is a rare purple dragon born once every ten generations, and prophesized to bring hope to the world. During his incubation, the Dragon Temple was attacked by the forces of Malefor, who intended to destroy all of the dragon eggs so as to prevent Spyro's birth. Ignitus rescued Spyro's egg and sent it down the Silver River, hoping for the best. Spyro was adopted by a dragonfly family and raised alongside Sparx, who was born on the same day. Many years later a group of Apes attacked the duo and captured Sparx, leading to Spyro finding out that he was not a dragonfly ,but a dragon, after he unconsciously breathed fire. Spyro then leaves home, desperate to find out who he was.
Evolution of Spyro the Dragon:
Over the next few games, Spyro becomes less cocky and more level headed, loses his chance for love with Elora in the second game, and then becomes more arrogant in the fifth game, 'A Hero's Tail', deciding that he will only save people if they reward him, all while defeating many tyrannical enemies such as the Sorceress and Ripto. This prepares him for the inevitable change that all childhood heroes must undertake, the development into gritty action hero in The Legend of Spyro series. This series re-invented both the character and the gameplay, making Spyro much more mature and serious, and willing to correct his mistakes of the past, and changing the genre from a platformer to an action-adventure. Spyro spends the next three games developing his relationship with Cynder, a female dragon originally under Malefor, the Dark Master's, control, and preparing to face Malefor and his forces of darkness. After all of this, Spyro becomes a hero of the Skylands, after Master Eon reads about his exploits in the Scrolls of the Ancients. He becomes a leader of the Skylanders and frees Cynder from the influence of the Undead Dragon King, Malefor, before convincing Master Eon to sign Cynder up as one of the Skylanders. Spyro later learns how to harness the power of The Darkness without it corrupting him, a technique that he later uses to help his fellow Skylanders survive the Petrified Darkness. Spyro also gains Legendary and Mega Ram counterparts. Over the course of the Skylanders series, Spyro's role became progressively less important and he has begun to fade back into obscurity, but with the aforementioned remakes of 90s gaming mascots, maybe spyro has another chance. Spyro's no stranger to making comebacks after all, with Insomniac's Ted Price having stated that they intended to give up the series after the third title, 'Year of the Dragon', because Spyro's actions were limited, due to him not being able to hold anything in his hands. However, development did leave Insomniac Games, who were focusing on Ratchet and Clank.
Games:
Spyro the Dragon: released (North America) on September 10, 1998/(Europe) on October 23, 1998/(Australia) on November 15, 1998/(Japan) in April, 1999 on PlayStation/(North America/Japan/Europe) on October 29, 2007 on PlayStation 3, PSP and PS Vita
Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (North America)/Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer (Europe/Australia)/Spyro x Sparx: Tondemo Tours: released (North America) on November 2, 1999/(Europe/Australia) on November 5, 1999/(Japan) on March 16, 2000 on PlayStation/(North America) on May 7, 2009/(Europe) on March 12, 2011 on PlayStation 3/PSP
PocketStation Mini Games: Sparx Special Training!/Sparx Adventure: released (Japan) on January 23, 1999 on PocketStation
Spyro: Year of the Dragon: released (North America) on October 11, 2000/(United Kingdom) on October 25, 2000/(PAL) on November 10, 2000/(Japan) on June 15, 2001 on PlayStation/(Unknown) on Unknown on PlayStation 3/PSP
Spyro: Season of Ice: released (North America) on October 29, 2001/(Europe) on November 16, 2001/(Japan) on December 26, 2002 on Game Boy Advance
Spyro 2: Season of Flame: released (North America) on September 25, 2002/(PAL) on October 3, 2002 on Game Boy Advance
Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly: released (North America) on November 3, 2002/(Europe) on Novemebr 29, 2002 on PlayStation 2/(North America) on November 8, 2002/(Europe) on November 29, 2002 on Nintendo GameCube
Spyro: A Hero's Tail: released (North America) on November 3, 2004/(Australia) on November 9, 2004/(Europe) on November 12, 2004 on PlayStation 2/Xbox/(North America) on November 3, 2004/(Europe) on November 26, 2004 on Nintendo GameCube
Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy/Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage: released (North America) on June 3, 2004/(Europe) on June 25, 2004/(Japan) on December 9, 2004 on Game Boy Advance
Spyro: Shadow Legacy: released (North America) on October 18, 2005/(Europe) on November 4, 2005/(Australia) on November 18, 2005 on Nintendo DS
Spyro: released (Unknown) in June, 2003
Spyro: Ripto Quest: released (Unknown) on November 12, 2004 on Mobile Devices
Spyro the Dragon: released (Unknown) in August, 2005 on Mobile Devices
The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning: released (North America) on October 10, 2006/(Europe) on October 27, 2006/(Australia) on November 2, 2006 on PlayStation 2/Nintendo GameCube/Xbox/Nintendo DS/Game Boy Advance
The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night: released (North America) on October 18, 2007/(Europe/Australia) on December 14, 2007 on PlayStation 2/Wii/Nintendo DS/Game Boy Advance
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon: released (North America) on October 21, 2008/(Australia) on November 20, 2008/(Europe) on November 21, 2008 on PlayStation 3/Wii/Xbox 360/PlayStation 2/Nintendo DS
Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure: released (Australia) on October 13, 2011/(Europe) on October 14, 2011/(North America) on October 16, 2011 on Microsoft Windows/Nintendo DS/OS X/PlayStation 3/Wii/Xbox 360/(Japan) on July 12, 2013 on Wii U
Skylanders: Giants: released (Australia) on October 17, 2012/(Europe) on October 19, 2012/(North America) on October 21, 2012/(South America) on November 22, 2012 on Nintendo 3DS/PlayStation 3/Wii/Wii U/Xbox 360/(North America) on November 18, 2012/(Europe/Australia) on November 30, 2012 on Wii U
Skylanders: Swap Force: released (North America) on October 13, 2013/(Australia) on October 16, 2013/(Europe) on October 18, 2013 on Nintendo 3DS/PlayStation 3/Wii/Wii U/Xbox 360/(North America) on November 15, 2013/(Europe) on November 29, 2013/(Australia) on December 5, 2013 on PlayStation 4/(World Wide) on November 22, 2013 on Xbox One
Skylanders: Trap Team: released (Australia) on October 2, 2014/(North America) on October 5, 2014/(Europe) on October 10, 2014 on Android/iOS/Fire OS/Nintendo 3DS/PlayStation 3/PlayStation 4/Wii/Wii U/Xbox 360/Xbox One
Skylanders: SuperChargers: released (North America) on September 20, 2015/(Australia) on September 23, 2015/(Europe) on September 25, 2015 on PlayStation 3/Xbox 360/PlayStation 4/Xbox One/Wii U/iOS
Skylanders: SuperChargers Racing: released (North America) on September 20, 2015/(Australia) on September 23, 2015/(Europe) on September 25, 2015 on Wii/Nintendo 3DS
Skylanders: Imaginators: released (North America) on October 16, 2016/(Australia) on October 13, 2016/(Europe) on October 14, 2016 on PlayStation 3/PlayStation 4/Wii U/Xbox 360/Xbox One/(North America/PAL) on March 3, 2017 on Nintendo Switch
Skylanders: Universe: released (World Wide) in October 2011 on the Internet
Skylanders: Cloud Patrol: released (Canada) on March 28, 2012/(North America) on April 5, 2012 on iOS
Skylanders: Lost Islands: released (World Wide) on October 6, 2012 on iOS/(World Wide) on November 21, 2013 on Android
Skylanders: Battlegrounds: released (World Wide) on October 14, 2012 on iOS/Android
Skylanders: Battlecast: released (World Wide) on May 24, 2016 on iOS/Android/Fire OS
Crash Twinsanity: released (North America) on September 28, 2004/(Europe) on October 8, 2004 on PlayStation 2/Xbox
Crash Nitro Kart: released (North America) on November 11, 2003/(Europe) on November 28, 2003 on Game Boy Advance
Cancelled:
Spyro: Ever After
Agent 9
Spyro's Kingdom
That's all on Spyro but, as always, if I have missed anything out or made a mistake, or you want to suggest who should win the prestigious VGCOTM award next month, then please don't hesitate to comment!
Goodbye for now, Harry
Sources:
http://spyro.wikia.com/wiki/Spyro_(Skylanders)
http://spyro.wikia.com/wiki/Spyro_(The_Legend_of_Spyro)
http://spyro.wikia.com/wiki/Spyro_the_Dragon_(character)
http://spyro.wikia.com/wiki/Spyro_the_Dragon_(series)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyro_the_Dragon_(character)
http://spyro.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Classic_Series_Games
http://spyro.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Spinoffs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylanders
My own knowledge
In the gaming industry's current quest to reboot all of the 90's gaming mascots (Sonic, Crash Bandicoot, Rachet and Clank etc.), Spyro has been sadly ignored. So, in order to show everyone's favourite purple dragon some love, I have decided to award him with the most prestigious award in all of gamingdom, the Games Apps and Reviews Video Game Character of the Month Award (which, interestingly, is also the holder of The Longest Award Name in Gamingdom Award).
A little bit of information on Spyro:
He is a rare purple dragon
He is an artisan dragon
He is notably smaller than other dragons in the series
His foster family is made up of dragonflies
He has many elemental abilities as well as great melee skills at his disposal
As a purple dragoon, he also has control over Dragon Time and the element of Aether
However, he is a rather poor flier
In Shadow Legacy he gains the ability to cast various magic spells and the art of Dragon Kata
He has a crush on a faun named Elora but misses his chance with her
He is also in love with Cynder
He is either a cocky, mischievous ,or selfless and adventurous hero depending on the series
He considers Ignitus to be a father figure
He beleived that he was a dragonfly for the first few years of his life
He is part of the Skylanders, and has Dark, Legendary and Mega Ram counterparts
In Skylanders he has a photographic memory
He was brought across to the Skylands by Master Eon, who had read about Spyro's many adventures in the Ancient Scrolls
He is a quick learner and hates when he struggles to learn something
His element in Skylanders is Magic
Origin of Spyro the Dragon:
The character of Spyro was created by Charles Zembilas, who also did designs for Jak and Daxter and Crash Bandicoot. Originally, Spyro was going to be green but this was changed to purple during development because he would blend in with the grass. Spyro's name was also changed from Pete to Spyro. The character was designed to appeal to 8-10 year olds, and, consequently, had to be cute but also mischievous, bratty, unpredictable and something of an upstart. Spyro's design came first and then the game was designed around him. The Spyro series was Insomniac's last resort before going bankrupt, after the failed sales of Disruptor. In-universe, Spyro's origin in the original series, involves his and Sparx's, a dragonfly, eggs being stolen by two thieves. The dragons discovered this theft leading to the thieves dropping the eggs. The red dragon egg then became hot and Spyro hatched from within ,while Sparx hatched from the yellow egg. In 'The Legend of Spyro' series, Spyro is a rare purple dragon born once every ten generations, and prophesized to bring hope to the world. During his incubation, the Dragon Temple was attacked by the forces of Malefor, who intended to destroy all of the dragon eggs so as to prevent Spyro's birth. Ignitus rescued Spyro's egg and sent it down the Silver River, hoping for the best. Spyro was adopted by a dragonfly family and raised alongside Sparx, who was born on the same day. Many years later a group of Apes attacked the duo and captured Sparx, leading to Spyro finding out that he was not a dragonfly ,but a dragon, after he unconsciously breathed fire. Spyro then leaves home, desperate to find out who he was.
Evolution of Spyro the Dragon:
Over the next few games, Spyro becomes less cocky and more level headed, loses his chance for love with Elora in the second game, and then becomes more arrogant in the fifth game, 'A Hero's Tail', deciding that he will only save people if they reward him, all while defeating many tyrannical enemies such as the Sorceress and Ripto. This prepares him for the inevitable change that all childhood heroes must undertake, the development into gritty action hero in The Legend of Spyro series. This series re-invented both the character and the gameplay, making Spyro much more mature and serious, and willing to correct his mistakes of the past, and changing the genre from a platformer to an action-adventure. Spyro spends the next three games developing his relationship with Cynder, a female dragon originally under Malefor, the Dark Master's, control, and preparing to face Malefor and his forces of darkness. After all of this, Spyro becomes a hero of the Skylands, after Master Eon reads about his exploits in the Scrolls of the Ancients. He becomes a leader of the Skylanders and frees Cynder from the influence of the Undead Dragon King, Malefor, before convincing Master Eon to sign Cynder up as one of the Skylanders. Spyro later learns how to harness the power of The Darkness without it corrupting him, a technique that he later uses to help his fellow Skylanders survive the Petrified Darkness. Spyro also gains Legendary and Mega Ram counterparts. Over the course of the Skylanders series, Spyro's role became progressively less important and he has begun to fade back into obscurity, but with the aforementioned remakes of 90s gaming mascots, maybe spyro has another chance. Spyro's no stranger to making comebacks after all, with Insomniac's Ted Price having stated that they intended to give up the series after the third title, 'Year of the Dragon', because Spyro's actions were limited, due to him not being able to hold anything in his hands. However, development did leave Insomniac Games, who were focusing on Ratchet and Clank.
Games:
Spyro the Dragon: released (North America) on September 10, 1998/(Europe) on October 23, 1998/(Australia) on November 15, 1998/(Japan) in April, 1999 on PlayStation/(North America/Japan/Europe) on October 29, 2007 on PlayStation 3, PSP and PS Vita
Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (North America)/Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer (Europe/Australia)/Spyro x Sparx: Tondemo Tours: released (North America) on November 2, 1999/(Europe/Australia) on November 5, 1999/(Japan) on March 16, 2000 on PlayStation/(North America) on May 7, 2009/(Europe) on March 12, 2011 on PlayStation 3/PSP
PocketStation Mini Games: Sparx Special Training!/Sparx Adventure: released (Japan) on January 23, 1999 on PocketStation
Spyro: Year of the Dragon: released (North America) on October 11, 2000/(United Kingdom) on October 25, 2000/(PAL) on November 10, 2000/(Japan) on June 15, 2001 on PlayStation/(Unknown) on Unknown on PlayStation 3/PSP
Spyro: Season of Ice: released (North America) on October 29, 2001/(Europe) on November 16, 2001/(Japan) on December 26, 2002 on Game Boy Advance
Spyro 2: Season of Flame: released (North America) on September 25, 2002/(PAL) on October 3, 2002 on Game Boy Advance
Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly: released (North America) on November 3, 2002/(Europe) on Novemebr 29, 2002 on PlayStation 2/(North America) on November 8, 2002/(Europe) on November 29, 2002 on Nintendo GameCube
Spyro: A Hero's Tail: released (North America) on November 3, 2004/(Australia) on November 9, 2004/(Europe) on November 12, 2004 on PlayStation 2/Xbox/(North America) on November 3, 2004/(Europe) on November 26, 2004 on Nintendo GameCube
Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy/Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage: released (North America) on June 3, 2004/(Europe) on June 25, 2004/(Japan) on December 9, 2004 on Game Boy Advance
Spyro: Shadow Legacy: released (North America) on October 18, 2005/(Europe) on November 4, 2005/(Australia) on November 18, 2005 on Nintendo DS
Spyro: released (Unknown) in June, 2003
Spyro: Ripto Quest: released (Unknown) on November 12, 2004 on Mobile Devices
Spyro the Dragon: released (Unknown) in August, 2005 on Mobile Devices
The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning: released (North America) on October 10, 2006/(Europe) on October 27, 2006/(Australia) on November 2, 2006 on PlayStation 2/Nintendo GameCube/Xbox/Nintendo DS/Game Boy Advance
The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night: released (North America) on October 18, 2007/(Europe/Australia) on December 14, 2007 on PlayStation 2/Wii/Nintendo DS/Game Boy Advance
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon: released (North America) on October 21, 2008/(Australia) on November 20, 2008/(Europe) on November 21, 2008 on PlayStation 3/Wii/Xbox 360/PlayStation 2/Nintendo DS
Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure: released (Australia) on October 13, 2011/(Europe) on October 14, 2011/(North America) on October 16, 2011 on Microsoft Windows/Nintendo DS/OS X/PlayStation 3/Wii/Xbox 360/(Japan) on July 12, 2013 on Wii U
Skylanders: Giants: released (Australia) on October 17, 2012/(Europe) on October 19, 2012/(North America) on October 21, 2012/(South America) on November 22, 2012 on Nintendo 3DS/PlayStation 3/Wii/Wii U/Xbox 360/(North America) on November 18, 2012/(Europe/Australia) on November 30, 2012 on Wii U
Skylanders: Swap Force: released (North America) on October 13, 2013/(Australia) on October 16, 2013/(Europe) on October 18, 2013 on Nintendo 3DS/PlayStation 3/Wii/Wii U/Xbox 360/(North America) on November 15, 2013/(Europe) on November 29, 2013/(Australia) on December 5, 2013 on PlayStation 4/(World Wide) on November 22, 2013 on Xbox One
Skylanders: Trap Team: released (Australia) on October 2, 2014/(North America) on October 5, 2014/(Europe) on October 10, 2014 on Android/iOS/Fire OS/Nintendo 3DS/PlayStation 3/PlayStation 4/Wii/Wii U/Xbox 360/Xbox One
Skylanders: SuperChargers: released (North America) on September 20, 2015/(Australia) on September 23, 2015/(Europe) on September 25, 2015 on PlayStation 3/Xbox 360/PlayStation 4/Xbox One/Wii U/iOS
Skylanders: SuperChargers Racing: released (North America) on September 20, 2015/(Australia) on September 23, 2015/(Europe) on September 25, 2015 on Wii/Nintendo 3DS
Skylanders: Imaginators: released (North America) on October 16, 2016/(Australia) on October 13, 2016/(Europe) on October 14, 2016 on PlayStation 3/PlayStation 4/Wii U/Xbox 360/Xbox One/(North America/PAL) on March 3, 2017 on Nintendo Switch
Skylanders: Universe: released (World Wide) in October 2011 on the Internet
Skylanders: Cloud Patrol: released (Canada) on March 28, 2012/(North America) on April 5, 2012 on iOS
Skylanders: Lost Islands: released (World Wide) on October 6, 2012 on iOS/(World Wide) on November 21, 2013 on Android
Skylanders: Battlegrounds: released (World Wide) on October 14, 2012 on iOS/Android
Skylanders: Battlecast: released (World Wide) on May 24, 2016 on iOS/Android/Fire OS
Crash Twinsanity: released (North America) on September 28, 2004/(Europe) on October 8, 2004 on PlayStation 2/Xbox
Crash Nitro Kart: released (North America) on November 11, 2003/(Europe) on November 28, 2003 on Game Boy Advance
Cancelled:
Spyro: Ever After
Agent 9
Spyro's Kingdom
That's all on Spyro but, as always, if I have missed anything out or made a mistake, or you want to suggest who should win the prestigious VGCOTM award next month, then please don't hesitate to comment!
Goodbye for now, Harry
Sources:
http://spyro.wikia.com/wiki/Spyro_(Skylanders)
http://spyro.wikia.com/wiki/Spyro_(The_Legend_of_Spyro)
http://spyro.wikia.com/wiki/Spyro_the_Dragon_(character)
http://spyro.wikia.com/wiki/Spyro_the_Dragon_(series)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyro_the_Dragon_(character)
http://spyro.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Classic_Series_Games
http://spyro.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Spinoffs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylanders
My own knowledge
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