The Legend of Spyro/Characters

Characters from the recent Continuity Reboot, The Legend of Spyro. Note that while this series does share a number of characters with the original trilogy (in name and appearance), their personalities are frequently different, so we're giving them a different section.

Spyro
He's still purple, and he's still a dragon, but unlike the original, more "rough" Spyro, this dragon is a bit more polite. He's a rare purple dragon, and one of the only one of his clutch to have survived destruction by the Dark Master. He lives peacefully with his dragonfly family until he suddenly realizes his ability to breathe fire...
 * Bag of Spilling: Happens to him twice. First at the climax of the first game, he expends so much power on Cynder that he loses all his powers and has to relearn them, helps that they show a scene of him training and trying to relearn them as a teaser for the second game. At the end of the second game, Gaul uses his staff to drain Spyro's powers, leaving him with only physical attacks for the rest of the fight until . This is averted this time around, as he doesn't need to relearn them the next time, presumably the rest between the games had something to do with it.
 * Breath Weapon: He is a dragon, after all.
 * The Chosen One/The Unchosen One: As strange as it may seem, the strange mix of him being predestined to be born and effect the fate of his era and his being Immune to Fate allow him to be both at the same time. He's The Chosen One because he was predicted to be born and leave his mark on the era he's born into, but he's The Unchosen One because he wasn't predestined to defeat Malefor and save the world, he chose to do that all by himself, screwing destiny at least twice in the process. So pretty much he gets to choose what he was chosen for.
 * Despair Event Horizon: As result of Malefor's Hannibal Lecture in Dawn Of The Dragon and his
 * Determinator: Goes through all sorts of heck throughout the games and doesn't give up. Even when a seemingly all-seeing dragon tells him its impossible, he just pulls a Screw Destiny and does it. The only time he really gives up is when
 * Elemental Powers: Being a purple dragon, he can learn to use all four basic dragon elements. Most dragons can only learn one.
 * Playing with Fire
 * Shock and Awe
 * An Ice Dragon
 * Dishing Out Dirt
 * Expy: Borrows a lot from Frodo Baggins. Being voiced by Elijah Wood helps.
 * Happily Adopted: While concerned at first, he becomes this once his parents reassure him. Also provides the page quote. Of course we never see them again in the games, but the games really don't give him a good opportunity to pay mom and dad a visit.
 * Ideal Hero
 * Immune to Fate: Its stated that the Purple Dragon will guide the fate of the era its born into. So pretty much this lets Spyro Screw Destiny if he doesn't like what's supposed to happen or go along with it if he does.
 * Jumped At the Call: When he discovered what he was and what Malefor's army was doing to his people, he was pretty quick to take up the fight. This was despite the fact Ignitus and Sparx were trying to talk him out of it.
 * Moses in the Bulrushes
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Spyro is pretty guilt ridden over . It's not really explained if its because he , or both.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: According to Malefor, Spyro was the one who, though given Malefor's personality, he may have simply been trying to screw with Spyro.
 * Oblivious Adoption: Until he realized he could breathe fire, he though he was a dragonfly.
 * Official Couple: With
 * Purple Is Powerful
 * Sealed Good in a Can: At the end of Eternal Night, he freezes himself, Cynder, and Sparx in a crystal to save them from a collapsing mountain. They remain that way until 3 years later, some Mooks decide to free them just in time for them to help save the planet.
 * You Can't Fight Fate/Screw Destiny: Depends on who you ask, Spyro himself and the Guardians thought his destiny was ultimately to save the world while Malefor thought his destiny was to destroy it.
 * Does this before that with the Chronicler. The Chronicler predicted that Cynder would get turned evil again by Malefor's return, so Spyro pulled a Big Damn Heroes and saved her. However, Word of God says the Chronicler knew he could do that and taught him Dragon Time so that if he did decide to Screw Destiny and rescue her So once again he screwed one destiny and fulfilled another.
 * Super-Powered Evil Side
 * Time Master: In the second game he gets the Dragon Time ability, making him a low level one of these. He burns it out at the end of the game though.

Sparx
Spyro's adopted brother this time around. Since Spyro has his own health meter, Sparx becomes his brother's Exposition Fairy. Oh, and the requisite snarker. While not as brave as Spyro, he's still a fearless companion. "Sparx: Hey, Spyro, man, you're alive. Spyro: Sparx! It's good to see you too! You okay? Sparx: Huh, you know, little stiff, voice keeps changin', but I'm good."
 * Bullying a Dragon: Constantly insults and makes Cynder feel bad due to her having been the Big Bad of the first game. Not only is she much larger than him, but she's just as strong as Spyro if not more so. Also a literal example, as she is a dragon.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Exposition Fairy
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: He's David Spade, Billy West and Wayne Brady all combined into one character. So yeah, he has this in spades.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While normally more of a Deadpan Snarker, in the 2nd and 3rd games he can come off as a jerk, towards Cynder in particular. But also, he showed that he really does care about his adopted brother when he couldn't go with them to confront Malefor and forced Cynder to promise to take care of Spyro.
 * Lovable Coward
 * The Other Darrin: A different voice actor in all three games. Lampshaded in the third:


 * Talk to the Fist: Gets a rather nice one at the end of the Pirate arc of the second game. Sniff, one of the two parrots that are really the captains of the pirates, won't stop talking and proves so annoying even Sparx can't take him. So he finally shuts his beak with one punch and knocks him out cold.
 * Took a Level In Jerkass: Becomes a good bit more of a jerk after Cynder's Heel Face Turn. He just won't let her live it down that she used to be evil until the third game, where he shows his heart of gold and makes her promise to take care of Spyro for him.

Cynder
While she's the villain in the first game, she's largely a case of Brainwashed and Crazy. The only dragon besides Spyro to survive the destruction of their clutch, she becomes his friend after the first game and his partner in the third. While she's ashamed of her past actions, she won't let them stop her.
 * And I Must Scream: She spent the first part of her life brainwashed into an evil monster. Why does this qualify? When she's free, she's completely aware of everything she did and deeply ashamed of it. Fridge Logic suggests she was conscious the entire time she was brainwashed. Imagine being forced from birth to watch your body do all sorts of horrible crimes and not being able to stop it. Yeah...
 * Action Girl
 * All of the Other Reindeer: While Spyro and the other dragons forgave her, most everyone holds a grudge on her for what she did while Brainwashed and Crazy, even while she and Spyro are doing their best to save the world. Crosses into Bullying a Dragon, both literally, because she's a dragon, and because she's almost as powerful as Spyro.
 * Anguished Declaration of Love: As Spyro is about to  Also counts as a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
 * The Atoner: Cynder spends most of the second and third games trying to redeem herself for her time as Malefor's lackey, understandable given the circumstances.
 * Big Bad: Of the first game, though she was Brainwashed.
 * Blow You Away: She has the elemental power of wind. A common theory among fans is the power she would have had if Malefor hadn't taken her, as its the only element she has that doesn't have a 'dark' attribute.
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: In the first game, where she's the main villain.
 * Happens again at the end of Dawn of the Dragon when
 * Beware My Stinger Tail: Her tail ends in a rather long metal blade, even when she's returned to being her normal self. It's never explained rather this is natural or something done to her by Malefor.
 * Breath Weapon: She's a dragon, after all.
 * Brought Down to Normal: She was formerly the strongest dragon around, but after being beaten by Spyro and returned to normal, she loses all the abilities she'd had in her adult form and spends The Eternal Night pretty much powerless. Then she regains four of her abilities in the third game after growing into a teenager. Exactly why isn't explained, but her growth may have had something to do with it.
 * Casting a Shadow: One of the powers she has unique to her is controlling darkness. A rare heroic example.
 * Chained Heat: She spends the entire third game chained to Spyro. Sort of a one way example because she's really the only one to complain about it even though.
 * Dark Is Not Evil: Especially in the third game, where it's revealed that her exposure to the darkness gave her a lot of cool powers.
 * Deleted Scene: One of the planned scenes for Dawn Of the Dragon would've explained how she got her jewelry back, which she hadn't had prior to being frozen in time. She was meant to put the jewelry back on in a cutscene in order to remind her of her past deeds. There wasn't enough time to make this scene.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: Well, it helps that she was returned to her true form after the defeat.
 * Despair Event Horizon: Crosses it after Malefor's Hannibal Lecture hits her hard.
 * The Dragon: In the first game for Malefor, against her will.
 * Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: Inverted; while she does wear iron jewelry, it's not to make her prettier. A deleted scene in Dawn Of the Dragon would've revealed that she put it back on as a reminder of her past sins.
 * Faustian Rebellion: While Spyro did the rebellion part for her, the powers Malefor's darkness gave her didn't end with his control. And she has absolutely no problems using them to fight back.
 * Foe Yay
 * Heel Face Turn: Was the Big Bad in the first game until Spyro beats her and she turns good.
 * Jekyll and Hyde: Dark Cynder is the first side of her we see, and she's a Complete Monster. Then when she's finally beaten, she reverts to the real Cynder, who knows what has happened, but is nothing like her former evil counterpart. Unusual as the evil Cynder was raised that way from birth and the good self didn't show up until later.
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: Her "Fear" power has this effect.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Despite being Brainwashed and Crazy the entire time, Cynder is deeply ashamed of her sins when under Malefor's control.
 * Official Couple: With
 * The Other Darrin: Just like Sparx, Cynder can't stick to just one voice. She is voiced by Cree Summer in the A New Beginning, Mae Whitman in The Eternal Night, and Christina Ricci in Dawn of the Dragon
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: According to Malefor she  However, given his personality, he might have just been screwing with her head.
 * Poisonous Person: One of the powers she has that's unique to her. She can breath a stream of it or coat her tail in it for attacks.
 * Sealed Good in a Can: After Gaul is killed in Eternal Night, the Mountain of Malefor begins to collapse around them, so Spyro seals her, himself, and Sparx in crystal to save them. 3 years later some Mooks think its a bright idea to break them out for their own amusement.
 * This Was Her True Form: When defeated by Spyro, he hits her hard enough to break the Dark Master's control over her. After this, she reverts to her true age if the Dark Master hadn't gotten his claws in her. Helps that it was only his magic that had kept her in her monster form.
 * Took a Level In Badass: In Dawn Of the Dragon. After spending The Eternal Night as a Distressed Damsel, she awakens from her three years as Sealed Good in a Can and becomes playable character, as well as an Action Girl.

Ignitus
The Fire Guardian and the first dragon Spyro meets. He's the leader of the Dragon Guardians and the only one who managed to escape Cynder when she was under the Dark Master's control. He feels to blame for the destruction of the eggs at the temple on the Year of the Dragon and when first met is depressed at his situation, but Spyro manages to raise his spirits. While his age prevents him from doing much serious fighting, he serves as Spyro's mentor throughout the trilogy


 * Heroic BSOD: Was in the midst of one when Spyro found him, refusing to even leave the cave and try to fight after everything that had happened to him. Spyro manages to give a pretty convincing Rousing Speech to at least convince him to go to the temple and Ignitus finally breaks out of it when they liberate it completely.
 * Heroic Sacrifice:
 * It's All My Fault: He blames himself for Malefor's forces destroying the other eggs and stealing Cynder's on the Year of the Dragon.
 * My Greatest Failure: The slaughter of all the eggs and the theft of Cynder's at the temple is this for him. Even at the end of the series, over 15 years later, he still can't seem to forgive himself for it.
 * Old Master: He's an old dragon, and it shows, but he's also extremely skilled in his element and a powerful fighter.
 * The Obi-Wan: Spyro's mentor and father figure, teaching him everything he knows.
 * Playing with Fire: Being the Fire Guardian, this is a given.
 * Seer: Has the power to see visions through a special pool in the temple, something very few dragons can do.
 * Sour Supporter: In the first game. Given the terrible turn the war took and that he saw all his friends being captured right in front of him, he wasn't very believing that even Spyro could help. He doesn't really get hope back until the second game.
 * Playing with Fire: Being the Fire Guardian, this is a given.
 * Seer: Has the power to see visions through a special pool in the temple, something very few dragons can do.
 * Sour Supporter: In the first game. Given the terrible turn the war took and that he saw all his friends being captured right in front of him, he wasn't very believing that even Spyro could help. He doesn't really get hope back until the second game.

Cyril
The Ice Guardian and the first dragon Spyro rescues.


 * An Ice Person
 * Long Speech Tea Time

Volteer
The Electricity Guardian and the second dragon Spyro rescues.


 * Character Filibuster
 * Motor Mouth
 * Shock and Awe

Terrador
The Earth Guardian and the third dragon Spyro meets. Unlike the others Terrador actually faced Cynder in combat. He did pretty well for a while


 * Dishing Out Dirt:

Skabb, Scratch, and Sniff
Skabb is the "captain" of a group of Sky Pirates who Spyro is captured by early on in The Eternal Night and serves as a Big Bad a rather large story arc before Gaul and Malefor's forces take over. However, Skabb is just the brawn, his two parrots Scratch and Sniff are the brains behind him. Despite this, Skabb is more than able to fight.
 * Authority Equals Asskicking: Skabb is the pirate captain, and thus is the biggest and strongest of them all.
 * Beyond the Impossible: After stage 1 of the boss fight, Scratch and Sniff manage to somehow pick Skabb off the ground and carry him out the window despite him being gigantic compared to them. Spyro and Sparx lampshade this.
 * Big Bad: Of the Sky Pirate arc in the second game.
 * Brains and Brawn: Skabb is too dumb to even speak but extremely powerful. Scratch and Sniff are the intelligent (well mostly Scratch, but Sniff is still much smarter than Skabb) but too small and weak to be physically threatening.
 * Bullying the Dragon: Sniff verbally insults Spyro for most of the arc. Justified at first because he has Skabb to back him up.
 * Disk One Final Boss: Their Sky Pirates pretty much serve as the main villains of the first half of the game after the temple attack to the half way point.  Spyro continues his mission to find the Chronicler.
 * Disney Villain Death:
 * Dogs Are Dumb: Well we're not exactly sure what Skabb is, but he is a canine and is certainly quite stupid.
 * Eyepatch of Power: Scratch and Sniff both have an eyepatch over opposite eyes.
 * Gladiator Games: The reason they kidnap creatures is for this reason.
 * High Altitude Battle: They're Sky Pirates, naturally this is the case.
 * Hook Hand: Skabb has one which he uses as a weapon.
 * Large Ham: Scratch is very much one.
 * Leg Cannon: Skabb has a small cannon in place of a peg leg.
 * Sky Pirates
 * Suicidal Overconfidence: Sniff has this.
 * Tap on the Head: Skabb captures Spyro by smacking him over the head with the side of his sword.
 * Theme Naming: With how much they lampshade things in this game, this troper was rather surprised Spyro and Sparx didn't take note of the fact that the parrots' names are Scratch and Sniff.
 * Trash Talk: Sniff's dialog pretty much consists entirely of this.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?:

Gaul
The King of the Apes and Malefor's 'right hand man'. He's the one that lead the assault on the dragon temple the night Spyro was born and who made off with Cynder's egg, as well as the Big Bad of the second game. He's a battle hardened warrior and not to be taken lightly.


 * Big Bad: Of the second game
 * Blow You Away: During the second part of the boss fight, he's able to generate a tornado by spinning.
 * BFS: He has a pair of swords almost as big as he is tall.
 * The Dragon: To Malefor.
 * Drop the Hammer: He's shown in flashback pics that he has a huge war hammer and wielded it against the dragons, but it's never actually seen in game.
 * Eye Beams: Gaul's fake eye can fire a green laser beam.
 * Genre Savvy: Enough to realize that taking away Spyro's powers BEFORE the fight was a good idea, and to expect Cynder wouldn't go through with her Face Heel Turn and be prepared. Loses points though for throwing Spyro into the big scary pillar of dark energy and giving him a Super-Powered Evil Side.
 * Glass Eye: He's missing one eye, which is replaced with a green crystal one...that shoots lasers!
 * Killed Off for Real: Is the only main character to actually die onscreen, being turned to stone and shattered to bits.
 * Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: Despite being a Complete Monster, he still seems to have some sense of honor. He tells his henchmen to stay back so he can fight Spyro one on one, and despite having a great deal of magic abilities not seen in the first match, waits for Spyro's Super-Powered Evil Side to manifest before pulling them out, presumibly because in the first round Spyro was powerless.
 * Magic Wand: He has a magic staff he used to suck Spyro's power away. Too bad it gets broken falling into the Well of Souls...
 * Mana Drain: He uses his staff to drain Spyro of his energy and powers, forcing him to fight melee style.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something: Sure, he's not seen much in the second game and not at all in the first, but it's heavily implied that he's been the field leader in previous battles.
 * Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred: After being defeated, he tells Spyro to finish him. When Spyro doesn't move in to kill him, he laughs at him and calls him a coward. Unfortunately for Gaul, while Spyro might have spared him, Dark Spyro didn't...
 * Taken for Granite: How Spyro ultimately defeats him, followed by Literally Shattered Lives.

Malefor
Malefor is the first Purple Dragon and the 'Dark Master'. He's the series Big Bad and is pure evil incarnated. According to the Chronicler, Malefor was revered as The Chosen One by the dragons, easily mastering numerous elemental powers, but was exiled when his lust for power corrupted him. He sided with the Apes and taught them how to use the power of the crystals, declaring war on his former allies, but his power became so great that his palace, the Mountain of Malefor/Well of Souls, collapsed into itself, trapping him in Convexity. He spent the first two games trying to get out and then when he finally did get free, he tried to.


 * Affably Evil: Subverted. When Spyro and Cynder meet him in person, he acts quite polite, even removing their energy chain trying to 'make them comfortable'...then he breaks out a Hannibal Lecture and
 * Bad Boss: The apes worked their butts off to free him from his prison, but because they weren't truly loyal to him (they were just power hungry), he 'rewarded' them by turning them into undead skeletons that are forced to remain in the shadows forever.
 * Big Bad: Of the entire trilogy. Though he's the.
 * Card-Carrying Villain: A rare effective dead serious example. The Dark Master is his self appointed title, but he's not the least bit comical.
 * Chessmaster: Malefor set up Cynder to supposedly release him in the first game, then Gaul to do it in the second. Turns out . The only thing that stopped his plan from working was  . And his Hannibal Lecture makes it hard for the viewer and characters to know what wasn't part of his plan from the beginning. In fact, the one time something happens that he couldn't control, he has a minor Villainous Breakdown and loses his cool for the only time in the series.
 * The Chosen One: As a purple dragon, he likely also fell under this before he turned bad.
 * The Dreaded: The dragons, even Spyro and Cynder, are rather scared of him. Even Spyro and Cynder admitted being afraid when they showed up at his lair to confront him.
 * Elemental Powers: As a purple dragon, he has all the elements Spyro and Cynder do. In fact, its implied he discovered the ones Cynder has.
 * Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: After, Malefor is taken offguard for the first time in the entire scene and seems unable to understand how it happened. He may quickly recover and start the boss battle, but it's the first time in the entire series things didn't go according to his Evil Plan.
 * Evil Counterpart: Or at least he insists he is to Spyro, which is partly true, as they're the only two of their kind in existence.
 * Evil Laugh: And a very nice one at that.
 * The Exile: Was exiled from the Dragon Realms for getting completely obsessed with power and threatening everyone's safety.
 * Fate Worse Than Death: Malefor meets his end when the  Depending on the situation, this might be one.
 * Fallen Hero: Implied, by the statues around the Dragon Realm of him depicting him in an honorable light, and Prowlus' comparing Spyro's current self to Malefor at the same age, both implying that he was once a good guy. Makes his Not So Different Hannibal Lecture even more effective.
 * Hannibal Lecture: Malefor is a master of it. He even managed, driving both over the Despair Event Horizon in one speech! Even more effective is
 * Immortality: He at least claims to have it in the Final Battle. He may have a point, as he's the first Purple Dragon and most normal dragons didn't know whether or not they even existed, meaning he's been around since ancient times.
 * Knight of Cerebus: He's pretty much the exact opposite of the Classic Villains. He's Pure Evil, truly frightening, and completely competent. His goal is simple but completely horrifying; destroy the world.
 * Large Ham: And somehow, it makes him more menacing.
 * Mook Maker: Has a dark magic spell he can use to spawn legions of Grublins from the earth, which he uses to create an entire army which he uses to replace the Apes after what he did to them.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Herod: Tried to prevent Spyro's birth by sending the Apes to wipe out his entire generation as eggs, thankfully Ignitus pulled a Moses in the Bulrushes to save him. He still got Cynder and had her turned into his Dragon  Given Malefor's personality, however, the Purple Dragon was probably just an excuse to commit genocide on his enemies anyway.
 * Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Really the only reason Spyro was able to beat him was because of Cynder, who Malefor had his minions spare from death so she could be his minion. Though in his defense
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: While "The Dark Master" is a scary name on its own, when your name stems from the word "maleficent", you know he's evil. It doesn't help that "Malefor" sounds a lot like "Malephar"--an alternate name of Valefor, one of the Ars Goetia demons (although this was probably unintentional), and one of the four who's always problematic no matter what precautions the conjuror takes.
 * Not So Different: He and Spyro are the only two of their kind known to exist and Malefor insists that even if Spyro defeats him, it'll be in vain as Spyro will simply finish the job himself..
 * Also is the fact that he is heavily implied to be a Fallen Hero.
 * Oh Crap: He gets one when
 * Omnicidal Maniac: His ultimate plan is to
 * Prepare to Die: Says it before the Final Battle, and, unlike most examples, it's frightening simply because it's him saying it.
 * Purple Is Powerful
 * Sealed Evil in a Can: Malefor was imprisoned in the Well of Souls for trying to destroy the world and his thirst for power growing out of control.
 * Ultimate Evil: Malefor spent the first two games as Sealed Evil in a Can, never seen or heard. He finally was heard in the third game, with an extremely creepy Voice of the Legion, but is not seen until the very end. And unlike a lot of examples, he turns out to be every bit as evil and frightening as he was said to be.
 * Villainous Breakdown: A very subtitle one of the 'kill them already' version. When he first meets the heroes, he's content just messing with their heads,, and generally taking his time. For the entire series he's always been in control of every detail, being a perfect Chessmaster in every respect and playing them all like fiddles. However, directly after  , he gets furious for the first and only time in the series, yells Prepare to Die, and cuts straight to the Final Battle. The one time something happened he couldn't control, it enrages him and causes him to try to kill the ones responsible.
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Malefor became evil because his own power drove him insane.
 * Villainous Glutton: His hunger for power is what drove him to evil and he still desires it above all else (well that and destruction). He's not fat but he by far the largest dragon in the series.
 * Voice of the Legion: As if he wasn't already demonic enough, he gets an echoing voice that makes his Hannibal Lectures even more menacing.
 * Xanatos Speed Chess: What makes him such a great Chessmaster. Spyro turning out to be alive didn't seem to hurt his long term escape plan at all, nor did him freeing Cynder from her Brainwashed and Crazy state.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Does this to the Apes once they've set him free from his prison. And he doesn't kill them, instead he gives them a Fate Worse Than Death as a "reward". Considering he quickly replaced them with the Grublins, this was likely his intention from the very beginning.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Does this to the Apes once they've set him free from his prison. And he doesn't kill them, instead he gives them a Fate Worse Than Death as a "reward". Considering he quickly replaced them with the Grublins, this was likely his intention from the very beginning.