#can you tell who my favorite skylander is?

[evesandfriends]

Nostalgia blast! /Silly

Skylanders enjoyers rise up!

[24karatcherrygold]

Gonna try out a new format, I'm forcing Gold to write their lore themself rather than whine about me getting something wrong for the fiftieth time!

So yeah! Enjoy a deeper delve into this girl's lore! Brought to you by Gold!

Chen'Yu (aka Chill) is one of the most strategically minded people in the Skylanders' ranks. She's quick, cunning, and resourceful, a leader through and through, and someone who never forgets her mission.

Especially the one that led her to officially join the Skylanders: her Queen. The famed Ice Queen had sent Chen to train with Master Eon in order to develop her more... unnatural ability to manipulate ice.

By the time the young Iceborne had finished the training, she was able to form weapons, armor, and a multitude of tools that she could fully utilize in combat. She could even lower an opponents body temperature and freeze their blood (that part freaks me out).

Upon returning to her home in the Northern Kingdom, Chen was given control of the royal guard and assigned as the Queen's personal guardian. Quite the promotion, and she took all of it very seriously. Even despite the Queen's affections and attempts to talk to her, Chen never allowed herself to get attached. She viewed herself as expendable muscle, a tool that would one day break and need to be replaced.

One night, Chen decided to get out of the palace, out of the main city. It was getting... stuffy, and she needed to think. But while Captain Chen'Yu was out stewing in her own thoughts, a large group of Northern Cyclops raided the kingdom.

When Chen returned, rushing frantically through the ravaged city and palace, the Queen was gone, and there was nothing left but a short note.

"Be safe Captain, I'll be waiting for you."

Chen went to the Skylanders, hoping to enlist their help with finding her Queen.

She still searches today.

-Written by Gold

Welp, I have no words. But hey, Chen was a blast to design, probably one of my favorites. Her colors are a bit messy, but that can be fixed, just need to experiment a little.

And hey, let us know if you liked Gold's telling, or if you prefer my shorter posts. Don't worry about offending us, we like honest feedback.

Regardless, I hope you're all having a great week!

With love

-Cherri

[thedarklightcrypt]

Kaos analysis if ya can! Literally just anything about him :0

Maybe his skills? I am truly curious about his position as a dark portal master.

ooh! kaos happens to be one of my favorite characters, and you bringing up him being a dark portal master... I do not own every piece of skylanders media, but I will do my best to summarize his skills in a detailed manner. within spyros adventure. he has control over various elemental spells, which range from doom sharks to lasers, his mechanical suit also utilizes these spells and I assume them to be built into the suit, he also seems to be able to summon his minions at free will. its never stated whether his giant floating head is via technology or something else, the closest we get is him telling glumshanks to turn it off after trailing off. in giants. the only skills hes seen using are directly connected to the iron fist (summoning arkeyans, eye lasers, the healing-damage-spell contraption), though I do not know much of it is due to the iron fist or his own built in magic. swap force, in VV nature, features a different set of capabilities for him. he uses petrified fire in one cutscene without any prior build up, and as super evil kaos can create shockwaves or bring his thoughts to reality. I must say that I was... unimpressed, back when I saw he didnt use anything relating to petrified darkness... but I am getting off topic. trap team, which was of course done by TFB, gives him a new super powered form. when affected by the stinkocity, he appears to... be able to see through dimensions? as he can see you (the player) through the tv screen, his vision also became faux psychedelic which I feel is relevant enough to mention. as his traptanium form he sprouts wings, gets crystal blades, can make... black energy? I dont know how to describe it, amongst some other things. superchargers has an interesting spin... which I quite like! he seems to be getting a power boost from the darkness, and actually utilizes some of his own spells (to my understanding, I am unsure if its been confirmed anywhere), such as teleportation + fake copies, crystal swords and hands. I think this is a really wonderful change of pace compared to his usual per-game super powered form. imaginators, I feel is the weakest. he lost his connection to the darkness after it was destroyed in superchargers, so instead we get mind magic and... super saiyan final boss...? imaginators is an extremely short and unfinished game to my knowledge, so I will not dwell on it for too long, but I believe mind magic lets him imagine anything into existence. though you can argue its not actually him whos using the magic as I believe it comes from brain. its extremely easy to make a joke about kaos only being a threat when he has outside forces assisting him, but to me that is a massive disservice to his character. it has been a bit since I read the novels, but in those he uses a wide variety of spells from teleporting individuals with the snap of his fingers, lightning, flying flower pots, lightning that drains your energy, as well as various contraptions like a miniature portal. the novels have a strange habit of switching back and forth from him being a threat and a joke, but the skylanders rarely face him head on due to him backing them into corners with his own skills & tactics, which I enjoy! upon acquiring the mask of power, he can steal the skylanders powers, though I feel this is unnecessary to further go into. one thing interesting about kaos is that he is extremely tactical while being horribly impulsive, so he ends up in a strange situation where he has the cards to win, but his emotions get the better of him. he is also someone who uses a lot of technology in his plans, and its not uncommon to see his spells accompanied by a contraption, that is typically implied to be created by him (or, that is how I have always seen it), he also created & brought the wilikin to life as a young portal master. I am sure there are pieces I have missed, due to not owning every book. but if so those who own those books can likely provide.

[la-noche-cae]

I know that this is probably a strange ask to receive and it probably brings up an unpleasant topic, but I just wanna let you know that I really appreciate your written criticisms about Skylanders in terms of caricatures

I also admire that you have the capacity to have Nightfall be your favorite character while still having major criticisms about her writing and characterization

Skylanders has been a game that I've loved since I was a lil kid when it first came out, and throughout my life it'd be one of those things I'd go back to occasionally because of it's comfort for me

I only recently realized that some characters are portrayed and designed in really questionable ways at best (Voodood, Double Trouble etc,.) And that's something I've been unpacking for the last few days and trying to educate myself on, and your posts about Nightfall have helped quite a bit with that

And again, I admire that you hold no stops on the racism of the writing while still enjoying the funner parts of the game/characters, I find that to be very mature and kinda hard to find in some fandom spaces

I dunno how I come across but I hope I'm properly expressing my gratitude and respect /gen

@blooddusken

I don't find this an awkward ask at all, and I'm glad!

You're the second person in this fandom who has told me I've helped them realize some of the problems with Skylanders, so I don't feel like I'm talking to a wall here...

Same, Skylanders was one of those things I had growing up. It was kind of a tradition, especially on holiday family reunions. But as I grew up and got educated, at college and listening to other marginalized people, I could always go to Skylanders as an easy reference on Racial Stereotyping/ Caricatures. Ouch.

I can easily hold space for gratefulness and grief in the same place, so when I say I both like and resent Skylanders, both things are true... Some people don't have that skill. It's why I try to not seek out interactions with other fans, some want it to be a "safe space" at the cost of othering indigenous people and people of color & enabling racism.

You know how tiring it gets to have to make yourself a space, probably just an obscure corner, because a lot of people in there don't want to use their critical thinking (being "mature")? If it was normal to do so, I'd probably have more friends here. Anyways... I didn't come here to make friends, I came here to force people to look at Nightfall differently and spread Caribbean indigenous propaganda. When I said I'd be "the most annoying Nightfall fan" back in 2020, it may be true. Lmao!

Besides that, it does feel good to be acknowledged and appreciated, so thank you for reading my posts and for telling me this <3

[spiritmander13]

Silly Game Time: Who are some of your favorite alien (non-human *and* extra-terrestrial) characters? And what do you like about them?

They can be from sci-fi or fantasy, from other worlds or dimensions or realms. All that matters is that they're not from Earth and that they're not human in any traditional sense (and, most of all, that you find them interesting).

While I would say things like Silver Spoon, I'm gonna point to my favorite game franchise.

Scratch, Chopper, and Cobra Cadabra from Skylanders. Technically, Cobra could be seen as humanoid because of the arms, but I find the three unique simply because they're three cores from the middle two games that aren't that popular in the community.

"The Luck Of The Claw!"

Scratch is the only one from SWAP Force and as you can see, she's a feathercat. Core Skylander of the Air Element, I like her because of many reasons. One of my favorite things about Skylanders is how unique the designs will get and Scratch sortof goes back to the basic days of Spyro's Adventure, which you're not going to see more in later designs. She also breaks the traditional color coding of the Air element; instead of shades of white and light blue, we're treated to gold, magenta, and green, which is moreso a personal preference than a fun fact.

She's also UNGODLY powerful. There's a bit of a trend where the Cores from SWAP Force are either a complete miss or a direct STAB, and Scratch is a direct stab. Her Ruby Path upgrades her critical hit chance while her Sapphire Path focuses on speed and the final upgrade in that path can even slow enemies. Most importantly, her Soul Gem (found in Fantasm Forest, which is near the tail end of the game) makes her HEAL A BIT WHILE COLLECTING COINS. It's only like 7 HP on max level, but considering they're the thing you collect the most, Scratch is absolutely terrifying.

"Dyno-Mite!"

Chopper is a Core Skylander from the Tech Element from Trap Team and he's a t-rex. A crazy t-rex. A crazy t-rex with a fucking helicopter pack and MISSILES, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I kin this guy. He's pretty decent for a Core Skylander and I love the personality. Most importantly, his first attack (THE MISSILES) are homing and will spin after firing, which makes it so you can just fly around and spam the first attack button, which makes Chopper a decent pick for certain situations like facing a Tech villain during Nightmare Mode.

Fun Fact: Chopper was originally going to be the Tech Giant, however TfB realized that T-rexes are more horizontal than vertical and it would take up most of the portal, so they created Bouncer to replace him. Another fun fact: he can fly by simply double-tapping the jump button.

"Charmed and Ready!"

Cobra Cadabra is a Core Skylander from the Magic Element from Trap Team. He is a cobra with arms (which you can interpret as humanoid but I digress) and is based around snake charmers. While there's nothing too notable about his personality (other than he is mysterious and actually doesn't have the traditional snake lisp), his attacks and his whole design is wonderful. Props to the concept artist for coming up with a snake who's a snake charmer.

His attacks may not be unique, but they're wonderful to me, and while this community won't give him some love, I will. Most notably, his first attack might just be a simple spammable bullet at first. But there is an upgrade called Keep The Beat! which added an extra challenge for extra damage. As you can tell, because Cobra Cadabra is rooted to music, the challenge was to keep with the beat of the background music. If you perfectly time your first attacks with the beat, you get an extra damage boost. Best of all, with another upgrade in the Concerto Cobra Path, the notes can bounce off walls. Trap Team was pretty much the game to try out different unique mechanics besides the Trap Masters and this was VERY unique and interesting. Also, I managed to max him out in 30 minutes after acquiring him, so there's that.

[bearmemesreviews]

Skylanders Reviews: Spyro Part 2

Last time we covered Spyro's adaptation into the face of Toys to Life, but now we cover his lore and mechanics a bit. I'm not that experienced of a gamer, so I can't really rank these guys on how mid they are in a speedrun. Instead, I'll just go over Elements and Mottos.

In Skylanders, every playable character has the following: An Elemental Type, a Catchphrase, and a small snippet of Backstory probably written by an intern with only a post-it note of info to build off of.

The main hub world of the game contains the Core of Light, which creates light to combat "The Darkness". It's an ancient relic of supernatural technology and as expected most of the villains want it destroyed so that they can take over the Skylands. It is powered by the elements, mystic forces based on concepts like Fire, Grass, Being Dead, and the Darkness. Let's go over them shall we!

Air: Refers to any Skylander or Playable Villain connected to the Sky, whether it's because they're a bird or living condensation. Elements of storms, wind, and even flying machines will get you sorted into this Element.

Earth: These first four Elements are easy to understand, they cover our main four bases. Earth refers to characters tied to the floating rocks we were all born on, whether they're one with the dirt or made of shiny rock. A combination of the Ground and Rock types from Pokémon.

Fire: Fire, alongside Water, is the most unsubtle of the Elements. If you look at a Fire Skylander, you'll immediately know what type it is.

Water: A Lot of Blue here, but the Water type focuses mostly on creatures who can manipulate or swim in water. However, this works part-time as the Ice element as well, since Ice is usually just frozen water anyway.

Life: Life covers most bases you'd expect, being both the Plant and Animal type in one. Most of the Skylanders in this Element will be sentient plants or furry creatures, but the Life element also includes concepts of "Life Energy".

Undead: Where there is Life there is Undeath, and here's my favorite Element if you couldn't tell. Ghosts, Ghouls, and Underworld Denizens can be heroes too, so this Element represents the creepy and ghastly of the Skylands.

Magic: We had the four main Elements, and Life and Death, so what else would cover our bases? Magic! Magic is a weird Element as a lot of Skylanders have their own magic, but this Element is actually more of a Neutral type as I'll explain later. Magic can cover any magic type besides necromancy, but this can extend to anything from psychic powers to being a being animated by magic.

Tech: The Nerd type, Tech covers both Inventor and Invention. Skylanders can include genius inventors who build their own signature weapons, or sentient automatons. As this is a separate Element from Life and Undead, we can assume that all inorganic Skylanders of this Element lack any soul whatsoever.

I feel like I'm forgetting something................................nope.

Anyway the dragon, spitfyre or something, what's his deal.

I am taking my info from the following sources: A Character Encyclopedia I got on Ebay, the fan wiki, and the original Website's character gallery via The Wayback Machine.

The creators went the route of "the Spyro games might've have happened, but you can just Imagine whatever happened afterwards."

In Skylanders game Lore, Spyro showed promise as a hero since birth. Part of a rare breed of Dragons, he got into a bunch of pregame adventures in The Dragon Realm where Master Eon, the Headmaster/Professor X of the Skylanders, personally invited Figment to join his League.

Barney is a Magic Elemental but is a Jack-of-all-Trades in all the Elements of Skylands - including The Darkness itself, leading to him sometimes becoming a Nega recolor named Dark Barney.

This also implies that he died at some point and is now a robot since he never really shows any inventive prowess.

Wheezie in fact has a preference for the Fire Element, but as the Magic Element can act as a "Neutral" type that's where he's sorted. In the Skylanders Academy canon I believe they drop any pretense that he had any games before Skylanders, even retconning Cynders backstory, though we'll get to that later. He's effectively raised by Eon in that canon. This canon is also where he has a homoerotic infatuation with that shirtless beast Crash Bandicoot.

Motto: "All Fired Up!" - 3/5 Generic and a bit misleading for his Element, but otherwise a fine catchphrase. Well Goodra, you get three Chompies! Not Bad!

Chompies are the superior life form and thus all ratings will involve a specific number of Chompies out of Five.

[blu3b1rd]

Stupid question, and I'm sure you can tell who my favorite character is (and no, idk why) so here it goes.

What's Kaos doing during all these shenanigans? Just kind of on the sidelines watching it all go down like "huh. What's going on over there? War you say? Why that's a perfect time for me to step in and cause a ruckus!" Or is he a central cause to some of the chaos? (lol. Lmao even)

Kaos is, well he is! I haven't drawn out his AU design but he just rejoined the plot to go have a short person fight w/ Hugo. You know, simple Kaos stuff like helping make a faulty core of light that might explode. I have no reason why he's out of the picture for most of the AU, but since the skylanders are as well, I'll just conclude that they're dealing with him and therefore it doesn't really cross over with what the NPC squad is up to.

[pikawarrior]

1, 8, 12, 26, 35, 41?

Hiiii hiii furiemd, so sorry i havent responded to u, direct socializing has been tough for me recently- well anygays here be the thingys

1 - Do you have freckles?

Yes? I think, idk some people call them moles others call them freckles. I call them freckles tho and i got a ton, i got so many orion's belts on me that i think the gods themselves are trying to say something. Also i got the little dipper on my cheek too. Its very fun to tell people that

8 - What's your favorite band/artist?

You what me to choose??? Well it changes every few weeks but AJR is very much in the main rotation rn. Mainly cuz a MEP im in uses one of their songs but still

12 - Who are five (or more) people you want to hug right now?

All my online friends/collected family, idk if i havent talked to them in weeks/months. Friendship deterioration or whatever doesnt really happen for me so (almost) everyone is still furiend to me

26 - What are seemingly childish things you like?

Looks other at 90% of the things i like. Sooo uhhhh Skylanders, toys in general, things? Im letting go of my 'childish' interests when im dead and even then the grim reaper will have to still fight my on that so basically everything from my childhood is still here with me

35 - Do you currently have a squish?

I unfortunately dont remember what that words means rn and the wifi here isnt doing to good cuz of a storm sooo ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

41 - What's your favorite cartoon?

Uhhhhh i cant decide on one soooooo, MLP (gen 4(?)), Transformers Rescue Bots (if anyone knows where i can watch the full thing pls pls let me know), uhh does Teen Titans count? Um Skylanders Academy, The Magic School Bus. Im gonna stop before we're here for a few days

[darklight-phantasm]

Not exactly Halloween content but she’s a witch so it kinda counts?

Putting that aside I actually wanted to do something for my personal Skylanders anniversary, since it’s now been exactly 10 years since I got my very first Skylander - Hex. Thinking about that makes it almost impossible to believe because it still feels like I just got into this franchise recently, but time works in funny ways I guess. Last week however, it really did hit me what that truly means and I want to write a little more for the occasion.

Ten years ago (I don’t have an exact date I just remember October) a 10 year old me finally decided to buy my first Skylander after obsessing over it all summer. I haven’t fully realized it yet, but Hex has been my instant favorite the moment I saw her. A little strange for a 10 year old but also telling. And despite that being such a big moment in retrospect, looking back I don’t really remember that day all that well. I was excited obviously, but other than that it was a normal day with a relatively normal event - I bought a brand new toy. She’s then been sitting on my desk for two more months until I finally got the first game for christmas, and of course she was the very first Skylander I placed on the portal as well. That moment I remember. That was the moment where I truly believed magic was real. Seeing this figure of this character who I’ve grown so connected to appear on the screen in front of me and come to life. Today I even dug out my Wii and first portal to play the game again after five years, (in 2017 I last replayed SSA) and even now I can still feel a little spark of that magic whenever I put Hex on the portal.

Hex is not only my favorite Skylander, she quickly became my favorite fictional character in general. I think the fact that out of all these colorful and weird characters the one you immediately fall in love with is a dark gothic witch is proof that you really mean it and that you’re a certified weird kid. Not only visually did she speak to me, but also her powers and especially her story. A powerful sorceress sacrificing herself for the people of Skylands just to become a feared outcast in return. It’s one of the rare Skylander bios which tells us a lot about the Skylander as a character and explains exactly why they are the way they are. It’s always been fascinating to me that despite being treated like that for centuries, she still held her head up high and continued to do good. I can relate to her in more aspects than I’d like to admit. She’s an inspiration for me and a great source of motivation regarding any Skylanders related project. Heck, she’s the main reason I got and still am into this franchise in the first place. I love many of the characters, but none could ever come close to the adoration I have for her.

I know this all sounds overly sentimental and maybe even crazy considering that she is just one of many faces made for a game with the main purpose of pulling money out of your pockets. Not to say the Skylanders were made without any thoughts or passion put into them, quite the opposite, but when you look at each of them individually it’s often hard to see more than just their unique designs and punny catchphrases. Hex is one of the lucky ones with a more distinctive personality and story, but even then you might not consider her that special. For me, thinking about Hex was always about analyzing what we had and adding onto that. What were her former friends like? How did the battle with Malefor go? How exactly do people react to her and why? How are her relationships with the other Skylanders? How does she feel throughout all that? At this point I’d like to call her my OC with all the headcanons I piled onto her. Ultimately, she’s still the character everyone sees on the surface, a cold and mysterious witch possessing unfathomable undead powers. And on the very surface she’s just the token goth, which also counts for something.

I could go on and on about my feelings for Hex, but I’ll end it here. She means the absolute most to me and I couldn’t imagine my life without her, as ridiculous as it sounds. She has helped me through many different times in life, good and bad, and I will forever hold her dear in my heart for that.

Thanks for everything.

[drakor127]

So you can find a lot of this on the “What is the Wham Army?” page on JCMorrigan's blog –Essentially, this is the universe she created for her fanfic “Taking Back the Crown,” which is about…basically her favorite villains all moving into the same house and trying to take over the multiverse. And then it got lore. And more lore. Because she cannot write anything normal. The fic is at its 170th chapter and she's nowhere near exhausted of all the ideas she wants to put in it – it’s just a big playground for hyperfixation fun. Anyway, here’s a rundown of the major points of my version, Team Nocturne! Like the WHAM ARMY, Team Nocturne is basically a chaos team of my favorite villains. They’re underdogs. Even the OP ones are underdogs. It’s a rule. If you’ve joined Team Nocturne, you’ve automatically decided to sit at the loser table, but you get a pretty neat found family out of it all.

THE CAST

The main characters are the villains who are the founders of Team Nocturne. The faction name is literally because one of the members chose it and wouldn't say otherwise. They’re my ultrafaves, the villains I always get fluttery heart for, and probably the biggest collection of misfits you can imagine. I’ll put the core members here and give you some background on how each entered the team.

Seiren (Suite PreCure) - The girl of the hour and co-founder and co-leader of the team. So the connecting factor between these people is that Seiren is their team leader along with a certain noble and the one who decided to build the team in the first place. She starts by dragging Louise to Minor Land and decided to use this as a way to triumph over the PreCure and good in general. She is a loony, likes to break shit and has fun doing it.

Louise De La Vallière (Familiar of Zero) - Canon starts by her being summoned by Seiren and Noise, she ain't complaining though. Louise IS a villain and I will duel you. Yes, she is hated by some but her actions really made sense to me with her feelings toward everyone bullying her sooooooo.

Vathek (Skylanders) - Takes place after his imprisonment in stone, being freed by Louise made him realize that he needed a specialized team to take the Dragon Throne and then every other world, so why not help his new master make one to not only take the Dragon Throne, but also get revenge on all who wronged them. And yes I did play Skylanders, it has charming characters, unique mechanics each game and one time it had this absolute GLAMOROUS TRASH LORD! No thoughts, head empty, only Vathek. Skylanders is a good franchise in my eyes specifically because it caters to my exact specific brand of heroes and villains and that's where we are. He is Malefor's actual child. Prove me wrong. You can't. Because he is. Also Able vibes and you know I love me them Able vibes.

Hibiki and Kanade Otonokoji (SDRA2) - Takes place after chapter 3 (no digital and age twist, that can of worms shouldn't be open) after being revived along with five other ones. Kanade has them yandere vibes and you know I love me some yandere vibes. And yes I'm gonna make Hibiki hang with cool kids.

Archibald Snatcher (Boxtrolls) - Met the duo after his death in film canon. He was annoying Noise a lot by claiming that he wasn’t actually supposed to die, seeing as he isn’t allergic to dairy (he is but don't tell him I said it, good way to die). This guy is JCMorrigan's best boi and I love this red hatted dimwit.

Roman Torchwick (RWBY) - takes place after V2 during the Creature Shifter story, met the duo in the Underworld because of pestering Easy to try and send him along with his team back, believing they were not even supposed to be dead. At the same time as Hibiki and Archie are already pestering her. Roman literally has high energy and no clue what he's doing.

Aria (Akame Ga Kill/RWBY) - Takes place after the Creature Shifter story. Usually I tend to adopt Big Bads (Archibald, Altair, Cyclonis) but Aria is that starter boss who stood out to me as "You. You are fun." She literally did a Snatcher monologue about why she killed Sayo, for Pete's sake. (And I'm sure she's stood out to other people for...other reasons... you know what I'm talking about)

Cyclonis (Storm Hawks) - Takes place after the finale, she was handed a save by Easy blasting the Condor and atomizing the Storm Hawks. She is literally Electra from the Hercules animated series with crystal magic and much more fruity.

Neo (RWBY) - What? Can't have Roman without Neo, it's not kosher.

Garrat Nargo (Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patoranger) - So just before he went boom, he was summoned to Halkeginia, and decided to help his new boss take over the Multiverse. He ain't a nice kitty, good people; in fact, he might be the worst I know of. All he cares about is spreading chaos, but not without a smile, not without laughing. To him, evil is the greatest joy of all. That’s why it’s never certain if he loves his crew or not, but no matter how much anyone bleeds, he always comes back for more, and more, and more, laughing all the way at their sweet despair. (Yes, he does look like Ikuto Tsukiyomi from Shogo Chara, don't ask.)

Natalie Senshi (SMG4) - She was working as a barmaid before this, and wanted to get even with Meggy. She has the same energy as Thomas Barrow, y'know the guy who went full "kidnap the lord's dog in order to find her later for a reward, except I lost the freaking dog".

Mimi and Sheshe (Mermaid Melody) - They needed some musical talent. I have welcomed these two into the fold, I love these fishy idiots, I want them to actually feel safe doing evil.

Linda (Hyperdimension Neptunia) - Linda was looking for a job and lo and behold. This is literally Anime Billie Eilish with two braincells and I love her.

Mera Salamin (Epithet Erased) - joined to have fun, cause chaos and live life. I want Mera to feel happy about being a bad bitch, and I'll duel all who disagree.

Sho Minamimoto and Coco Atarashi (The World Ends With You) - Were dragged out of the Underworld to join the team. Still haven't seen anything to do with NEO TWEWY. I'm now feeling more warm to the idea but I have lots of other things I wanna watch/play/read first, so I'll get there when get there. I have heard that it just makes Coco not a villain anymore though which I'm not jazzed about. I didn't order this, I didn't ask for this, send it back, don't give the chef my regards. And so it's like...I don't like what ended up happening to Coco but I LOVED what happened to Sho and the dynamic between the two of them so what do I want here? And I think in the end what I want is the two of them breaking out to just be like "We like being evil but not when Joshua is calling the shots."

Uzi Doorman, N, V and J (Murder Drones) - Joined the team to settle the score with JCJenson. These four are literally psychos and I love them.

Harry, Manny and Robin (Don't Hug Me I'm Scared) - Were convinced to join the team. These three are in fact villains in my eyes. I have ensured it so they can hang out with the cool kids. I'll duel you all.

Taylor Lee and Albert Krueger (Therapy with Dr Krueger) - Joined by way of invitation, besides Taylor loves the idiots. Albert will literally state an eyeball is a ball as it is a sphere and Taylor is just along for the ride.

Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th) - Was revived to join the team. This guy is the OG Mama's boy and I love this man.

Luna Girl and Motsuki (PJ Masks) - Joined to beat the PJ Masks at their own game. Also Luna stuck out to me as the PJ Masks villain that makes me think "You. You are fun." (And I'm sure she's stood out to other people for reasons you know what I'm talking about, the LunaxGekko fans.)

Jinx (Teen Titans) - (Takes place before redemption) Luck bender added to a team of crackjobs with a undead dragon and a witch for the leaders, what could go wrong? Jinx IS a villain and I will duel you. I have welcomed her into the fold, I love this idiot, I want her to actually feel safe doing evil.

Altair, Mamika Kirameki and Alicetaria February (Re:Creators) - Joined mostly because Coco adopted them and Altair loves the crazy ones. And I have put Alice and Mamika here so they can hang with the cool kids, I'll duel those who disagree.

Baron Nero, Madame Noir, Miss Gritta and General Schwarz (ToQger) - Joined by being freed from Hei after Team Nocturne helped Gritta out.

The Jaegers (Akame Ga Kill) - After the team met with Altair and her team, Vathek suggested they try their hand at the Empire, it was more successful and the team got these seven on the team by pure strength. These 7 are just pure energy.

League of Villains (MHA) - Need someone besides All For One in control.

Anyway, this crew is a squad of evil buddies who like hanging out, tearing up the stage on karaoke night, and razing kingdoms to rebuild to suit their brand of tyranny with an iron fist. Though given this group’s tendency to put flash and glamor before strategy, they’re slightly more successful at the former than the latter…though you’d be a fool to underestimate them. When at the top of their game, they can kick gods in the balls. Currently, they live in Louise's room at the Tristainian Academy of Magic.

And the ships are Esdeath/Roman (WhiteHatBlackHat), N/V, Kanade/Aria (BloodyRhythm), J/Mamika (RoboSlayer), Uzi/Mimi/Sheshe (TechnoMusic), Jinx/Altair (MetaLuck), Linda/Natalie (SquidGame), Seiren/Louise (MagicTone), Mera/Neo (BlueberrySorbet), Coco/Toga (BloodReaper) and Cyclonis/Hibiki (StormMelody, which is an OTP to end all, I would die for them, many feels, many sins)

THE SETTING

So as you have probably gleaned, the multiverse setup is largely based on My Hero Academia and Kingdom Hearts, which is one of my favorite things (in the KH1 through Fragmentary Passage era anyway). There are many worlds that can be visited either by Gummi Ship or Corridor of Darkness. Basically any sorcerer can use Corridors in this ‘verse if they’ve opened their souls to Darkness (Aka Rui, Altair and Seiren are their transports).

The implication is that every world represents a separate “story” or part of one. As in if it’s a work of fiction HERE, it’s a world THERE. Some characters are actually savvy enough to know they’re fictional (e.g. Altair, Natalie, Neo). Most of them aren’t built to handle the news, though, and just shrug it off if told. (No, really, the powers that be prevent them from taking that news seriously if they’re not from something that regularly leans on the fourth wall anyway.) But sometimes, things get AU’d in without their full worlds. I was inspired by how Final Fantasy is treated in canon KH, and once I started bringing in more FF stuff by the same method, I felt motivated to do that with MORE fandoms if I felt the characters could be divorced from their settings and histories easily. I’ve done it for most Disney Channel non-animated properties as well as Satellite City (ain’t that the worst combo you’ve ever looked at). I’m planning to do it for Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn because I’m coming up on a location I want to delve into the civilization of but don’t have many canon characters for, so guess what, you get the FE cast now.

THE STORY

For the first major “book” of my version of TBTC, Team Nocturne stole the Legendary Score and plan to sink everyone into the sorrowful abyss. All they have do to is collect all the notes needed for kt. In order to do this, they visit the worlds of Familiar of Zero, Skylanders, Super Sentai, Danganronpa, KH, RWBY, Akame Ga Kill, Storm Hawks, Okami, Wakfu, PreCure, Kamen Rider, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and many many more. The heroes catch wind of what they’re doing and start assembling. After many madcap adventures full of memes, chaos, drugs, suffering (not in the way you think, it was still full of comedy), and just pure fun, Team Nocturne got sent to the World of One Piece and overthrew the government trying to find Notes. This is also the part where we slowburn up to the major Team Nocturne ships and many Sky Gang ships. In the end, Team Nocturne actually get all the notes and figure out that they can amplify it, and Noise starts getting ideas.

The second “book” of this story. While the Sky Gang is bolstering their forces. Team Nocturne, on the other hand, are gathering up for plunging everything into silence, starting with Atlantis (Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire) and using portals to link to other territories of interest. While Team Nocturne goes through a to-do list of what they need before they can launch such a massive invasion, the Sky Gang finds strength in numbers because the writing’s on the wall that between Noise and Louise, things are gonna get pretty weird, and as evil builds, good will need to rise to protect the innocent.

Anyway, as I had said in the post you saw– I basically take everything fictional I love and shove it into this AU for daydreams because it lets me imagine my faves having CROSSOVER INTERACTIONS and doing cool epic stuff on a multi-world scale. (But as much as I’ve talked up the epic aspect, a lot of it is just…like…evil people fucking around and having karaoke and D&D nights) Anyway, I hope this gives you a good sense of the madness, and I hope it serves as a reminder to everyone that they can and should just. Make a daydream and/or fanfic universe that’s indulgent as hell. Just do it.

[stupidskychild]

Your eugenie hcs are really good!! What do you have for Ryeo and Adriana?

oh thank you! let me think...

For Ryeo-

- she has an older brother who's studying journalism at college!

- she's absolutely knocked out a few bad guys just by swinging her book around when she couldn't utilize her cards

- her grandmother was the one who told Ryeo about tarot cards and fortune telling, around the time Ryeo was nine years old. It's now Ryeo's hugest passion

- she's somewhat shy, but becomes fast friends with Eugenie (who was extremely welcoming of Ryeo and happy to help Ryeo out with honing her powers). Sometimes Ryeo even feels she's crushing on Eugenie, but it's probably one of those short lived things, right? (spoiler alert it's not)

- Ryeo will never miss an opportunity to practice her abilities with her new friends, her normal sparring partners are George and Kira (my oc)

For Adriana-

- I already made a drawing of this, but Adriana has a huge vegetable garden in her backyard. Her favorite things she grows there are tomatoes, zucchinis, and strawberries, but she grows a lot of other stuff there too!

- Adding onto that, every summer, Adriana and her parents set up a vegetable stand in their driveway, and anyone who wants to grab some food for dinner or for other reasons are welcome to grab anything from their stand, no payment needed!

- As a portal master, Adriana can manipulate her right gauntlet to her will! she can transform it, extend it, etc. it's helped her and the others out of quite a couple situations

- she plans to go into botany or have some sort of career in the environmental field on earth, and she's always eager to learn about all the strange plants in Skylands and what they can do

[painted-piggy-ships-archive]

Idk much about Kaod?

But im always here to allow you to gush over an f/o!

So tell me your favorite things about them!!

WOOWOWOWOWOO

okay mr. kaos,, first of all, love his voice. yeah it’s kind of on the annoying side but I COULD LISTEN TO HIM TALK ABOUT HIS EVIL SCHEMES ALL DAY 🥺

and i love that he’s one of my shorter f/os, it’s nice to be the tall one every once in awhile gfbihfbhguhf

since skylanders is aimed at like 8 year olds he doesn’t necessarily pose a real threat, unlike some of my other villain f/os. he’s just a goofy little fellow!!! fgbuhfbguuhgfb

i like how flustered he gets when i show him affection cuz!! he’s not used to it!!! fgbubhgfhg it’s just like; *smooches his forehead* he, internally: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

i feel like he’d be the type to be like “ew cooties” but then just... melt when he talks about me to glumshanks (his troll butler! also the only person who has his head on straight in our castle fgubhgfbhiugf)

he can rapidly sway between high and low confidence, so it’s nice to see his optimistic “i am so great” side, but also comfort him when he’s frustrated about being beaten by the skylanders yet again

vfhdfdvfidfij i lovm him 💕💕 ty for stopping by!!

[bearpillowmonster]

Transformers: War for Cybertron (Siege)

It takes guts to make something like this, a hard reset into Transformers, going deep into the lore and doing what the original fans would want, I'm not sure if they asked for it, but I can tell that this was made for them. It really is the toys come to life, all the designs are in their original state, no modernism, no hybrids, no new designs or characters. Maybe you're a fan of that new stuff, I know I was but I have to respect exactly how this series came to be and how loyal it is to the originals while also being a little bit of a darker take while still being child friendly. Ladies and Gentlemen, this...is Gen 1.

I heard that it's the start, that things are just now kicking off such as Megatron just building up to his bad self. They're taking their time with this but I know that this is a "trilogy" of seasons and there will be payoff, making those mainstays feel earned, that it's doing all this for a reason, a definitive experience if you will, in order to reignite and re-interest fans of Transformers. You'll understand what I mean if you try it. That first episode tells you everything you need to know, just how dark it is, what it's going to cover, and who it's being targeted at.

When I heard that this was the vision, I knew I wanted to check it out. Then learning that it was being handled by Rooster Teeth as a Netflix series, I knew it was going to be something good especially after seeing a lot of people coming out of the woodwork to review it when plenty of other series have come out over the years and not a peep.

Now what KIND of fan am I? Am I even a fan? I wouldn't consider myself under that title, considering how much people adored this series before a lot of it got screwed with and bland. I hear people talking about their first entry into the series (surprisingly enough a bunch have said Beast Wars) but I actually don't remember where I started, I remember the toys, I remember some of the cartoons, but not where I started. I was there watching the first Bay film in theaters as a kid, I enjoyed it, I still do. I can't say I enjoyed any of the other movies though. Transformers Animated came out and I'm saving my opinion on that for a later review but I'll sweeten it up and say I loved it. I played one of the online games with my friends before it got shut down as well as the Revenge of the Fallen video game and while those weren't the best games, I still had fun.

I saw Dark of the Moon in theaters because I was still hyped and I was underwhelmed, confused and bored with it. I stopped going to theaters and saw Age of Extinction on dvd, I was excited (transforming robot dinosaurs for crying out loud!) but after that I decided that I liked the movies for the effects but everything else was pretty dumb. I didn't even watch the Last Knight (Nazis and the Round-table? Seriously? That's what you came up with?) I heard it got even worse beyond that too. Bumblebee came out, this time it was a different director, a new vision, but a bit of mix of styles. I was very much down for the idea and when I saw the opening on Cybertron, I was in awe, heck I'm still in awe when I watch the clip on Youtube but I can't help but feel that the rest of the movie was cheesy and a little bit unnecessary, I suppose if it 'was' the first film, then it definitely works, it is one of the better films, just not 'great' per say. (Hailee Steinfeld is great though, just saying) So now here we are, I left Transformers in the dust, I didn't really care for its cultural influence anymore (toys are cool though). I actually have an Optimus Prime shirt that came in a Loot Crate from years ago, it didn't react well with the medicine I was using on my back so it became discolored so I put it away. I was worn out on Transformers.

(It’s this one but mine looks a bit purplish with splotches now)

I had a dream one night about Transformers the movie so I checked it out and it's as cheesy 80's as you can get...but at the same time, this series came out, so I gave that a shot. This was my last huzzah, my last reflection on Transformers, and I think this series knew that was for a good amount of fans. So, once again, I got hyped. I brought that shirt back out for this series. I watched the first episode and I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't impressed, yeah it was slow but I respected it and decided to try something else. A little while went by and I kept hearing about it which caused me to think about it more and more, so I gave it another shot, not to binge but maybe one episode a night, just to see what happens.

So, I gotta mention the visuals. I wanna lick 'em. Look at that shine and scuff on Megatron. Then the way Wheeljack's ears light up when he talks, the models look so gorgeous, as I said, toys come to life (and no not Skylanders). What I am sad about though, is the cinematography. It could be a bit better towards the start but it does get better as it goes on, it does get more interesting too and I think that's going to be the whole series, which is pretty noble. I'd say it can only get better from here, giving us a preview of its potential. Seeing these characters like this is crazy for me because I don't know a lot of these characters so I have to hold on to who I already know and when I do see somebody, it's cool, like "Hey, I know you. Haven't seen you in a while." in a completely different design than what I'm used to, but it's the original, it's kind of refreshing. The two things I will complain about is Sideswipe, he was one of my favorites, and while I didn't see all the versions of him (not even gen 1) I don't like this version of his character. The other thing is that I would've liked more of a fight between Starscream and Jetfire. I think it actually would’ve been a really good cliffhanger if Megatron got the Allspark then fled through the portal himself, destroying Cybertron after everything the series built up to...but that’s just me.

I'm up for the next two seasons and I'm happy to see a fanbase along with it. I recommend it, it’s only 6 episodes so try it out!

[geminiamethyst]

So, it’s been a year from today since I started Tumblr. So I thought that I should share a short bio about me. And FYI the dog in the photo does belong to me, her name is Sparky. Onto the bio:

Name: Amy

Nickname: Gemini Amethyst, Gemini or Ames (though it is quite rare for me to be called the last one)

Height: unsure.

Ethnicity: UK aka Great Britain

Favorite Fruit: Banana and strawberry

Favourite book: Comet in Moominland, Moominvalley in November, The Exploits of Moominpapa (all three by Tove Jansson), All Sorts of Possible, The Dark Inside (both by Rupurt Wallis), Frozen in Time, the Shapeshifter series (both by Ali Sparkes), the Time Rider series (Alex Scarrow) and a whole lot more books (yeah, I'm a bookworm, DEAL WITH IT!).

Favourite movie: any Disney film, How to Train Your Dragon series (I haven’t seen the 3rd movie, so please don’t ask me about it), Coraline, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Bumblebee (the new Transformers movie). I also like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Harry Potter series and Wonder Woman.

Least favourite movie: Transformers Age of Extinction and Transformers The Last Knight. Don’t get me wrong, I love Transformers, but I HATE those two movies. Too many plot holes and the stories are all over the place. One second I’m thinking this is what the story is and then the next the movies literally make no sense. Not enough storyline because every five minutes there are nothing but battles and too many explosions. Not to mention, there is TOO👏MUCH👏FOCUS👏ON👏THE👏HUMANS! The film title says TRANSFORMERS!!!! If you’re going to make a movie around the franchise, make it so there is more focus about the cool transforming robots from another planet, rather then the humans. Sorry, I’m ranting when I shouldn’t be.

Favourite tv show: the Moomins (obviously), Stranger Things, Pokemon (or does that last one count as anime, I can't tell sometimes), Murdoch Mysteries (crime drama), Doctor Who, most of the Transformers series (so far Transformers Prime is my favourite). And I started watching Moominvalley and I love it 🥰

Least favourite tv show: Eastenders (too much shouting and arguing in my book), The Jeremy Kyle Show (again, too much shouting and half the time the problems seem to get worse rather then being solved) and X Factor (I honestly find it boring, sorry but all it is, is singing, that’s it, which is why I prefer Britain’s Got Talent because there’s more variety).

Favourite game: Skylanders (up until Trap Team because I don’t have the up to date games consoles for the rest of the games), the "Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games" games, including the Winter games (up until 2012 because I don’t have the up to date games consoles for the rest of the games). I have recently just got into "Layton's Mystery Journey" and I love it.

Least favourite game: Sonic Boom Shattered Crystal, played one level and that is it because I found it too long and boring and I was very disappointed in it. Sorry to those that like the game, but it’s not my favourite.

Favourite flowers: Roses

Favourite animal: all except snakes and spiders.

Favourite beverage: don't drink alcohol, but I do love a good cup of tea and an excellent hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows.

Favourite fictional character: Snufkin 😆. And Joxter (Snufkin's father in case you didn't know). I also have a soft spot for Ninny (the Invisible Child).

Number of blankets you sleep with: Normally 1 but it depends how cold it is.

Dream trip: Canada (technically it doesn’t count because I am going there this year, but whatever), Disney World in Florida, and Japan. I would also like to go to Finland because last time I was there was when I was 8 or 9. Not to mention, that is where Moominworld is.

Blog created: 30th April 2018

Number of followers: 38

Okay that is it. If you guys would like to see more of the travelling side of me, please check out my travel blog as it deserves some love too. You can find it under Gemini Amethyst Around the World here on Tumblr. There you can find out what I’ve been up to both home and away, and where I plan to go.

I also have a Wattpad account, so if you want to see more than just Moomin fics, please check that out as well.

Have a nice day guys. Bye!

[spiritmander13]

I'm gonna do the question thingy cause they're fun and I like learning things about my favorite people :3

what would you name your future kids?

what are you looking forward to? is there anyone who can always make you smile? what was your life like last year? are you listening to music right now? what is something you want right now? how do you feel right now? personality description what is your favorite song at the moment? things you hate "i’ll love you if…" 3 random facts 3 dreams you want to fulfill? favorite memory favorite book(s) favorite song ever where you want to be right now 5 things that make you happy something that's worrying you at the moment tumblr friends favorite food(s) favorite animal(s) andd do you play stardew valley you don't have to answer all of them, you can pick and choose but y'know

Uhhhh, I probably wouldn't like kids, but maybe something unique like... Tritan.

Looking forward to 9th grade! School starts for me in 21 days!

You, MC. You and @infinite-ticking-clock37 and anybody in the OSCConfessions Discord.

*Skip!*

'CAUSE I'M BLEEDING OUT, SO IF THE LAST THING THAT I DO, IS BRING YOU DOWN, I'M BLEEDING OUT FOR YOU (Yes)

I want sleep but my ADHD is telling me NO.

*Skip!*

Imagine a mixture of We Didn't Start The Fire, The Walker, Hai Yorokonde, and the vibe of Giants (the four songs on my Strawpage). That is most-likely the best representation of me.

I guess Bleeding Out and Monster by Imagine Dragons?

When people don't MIND OTHER'S BUSINESS LIKE, JUST BLOCK AND MOVE ON, THE ALGORITHEM AIN'T HELPING YOU EITHER

I'll love you if you think I'm allowed to have the sexual orientation of Questioning and have a squish for someone (You, MC).

I've suggested Silver Spoon to the Sexypedia.

I have around 138 figurines relating to Skylanders. (So about a third)

My Dad doesn't care that I'm Pangender because I'm still his daughter. (Still happy about that!)

Being a respected member of a community

Save people from disasters (Meteorology)

Meet someone from the internet who comforts me, like Jazzy Oliver

Beating Skylanders: SWAP Force on Nightmare Mode for the first time. Never beaten one of the games on Nightmare Mode before it.

*Skip!*

Gonna have to say something like We Didn't Start The Fire.

In your bed, holding you close, while we watch III together. /p

Silver Spoon and Candle, as well as some other contestants

Skylanders

Talking about my OCs/AUs

You and Infinite

The OSCConfessions Discord

Telling my brother and mother that I'm Pangender.

Mostly you and @infinite-ticking-clock37. But also people like @payjayy who are from the OSCC Discord.

KRAFT MAC AND CHEESE, BABY, IT'S REALLY THE ONLY THING I CAN COOK.

The cheetah is my favorite animal, but I also like dragonflies and foxes.

No, never have played it. Just like I've never really watched anything relating to Broadway except for the movie adaptation of Chicago. Including Heathers. Call me uncultured all you like.

[ladala99]

Spyro Reignited Countdown - Spyro the Dragon

Hey, as someone who only owns a Switch of the current console generation, and as someone who grew up playing Spyro on the PS1, I’m super hyped for the return of the dragon!

And I thought up yesterday, what better way to do that than by reviewing every Spyro game I’ve played.

Well, I’ve played... *counts* 22 Spyro games. Counting the 3DS ports of Skylanders games which are different enough to talk about separately.

Alright divide the number of days left until it comes out and...

Uh... one every two days, huh? Guess I better get started! (May space them out or have bonus comparisons/recaps at the end to deal with the extra days)

Spyro the Dragon

The first Spyro game! Also the first video game I ever played. One day, when I was 3, my dad plopped me down in front of the Playstation, gave me the controller, and started up some demo disk. The first one on there was this game called Spyro the Dragon, and he told me what the buttons did (since I couldn’t read the screen that told you), and let me play.

I told my mom about it (divorced parents), and we rented the game from Hollywood Video. *She* played it. She loved it. And I loved watching. And pressing buttons on a controller put into slot 2. I had a fancy Barbie controller. I don’t know what eventually happened to it.

Eventually the Hollywood Video lost the disc and we bought it for ourselves. We were renting it every week, anyway. I remember us going up to the video game counter and my mom going “We’d like to get this game, it’s about a dragon...” and I shouted “And he’s purple! And his name is Spyro!” I loved him so much.

Now I didn’t play through the entire game myself until I was a teen, but unlike any other game, I did see the ending as a kid because my mom was able to make it through the game, into 100%. It’s a series we bonded over, and I have so much nostalgia for it. I can’t wait to play it in Reignited and see what she remembers.

Anyway, stopping with the memories and onto the review! It’s just... really hard to be fair for a game like this. I have too much nostalgia related to it. Honestly, though, that’s the case for a lot of the series.

Gameplay

Spyro the Dragon is an early 3D platformer. Despite being early, though, it controls really well. I’ve played a few others from that era (Croc, uh... Crash? Maybe not a few) and none of them control quite as well as Spyro does. Spyro is extremely responsive, stopping and starting on a dime.

You have two attacks, spitting fire and charging with your horns. The latter can be used to move quicker, but you don’t turn as sharply when running. When to use each attack is well-conveyed, as large opponents are immune to your horns, but weak to your fire, and opponents with a shiny metal shield are the opposite. There’s a few enemies immune to both, but they can be beaten by ways that are broadcasted well.

Collectables

One of those ways is the dragons. There’s three main collectables in this game: Gems, Eggs and Dragons. Gems are everywhere, Eggs are only in a few levels, and Dragons are placed in key locations in each level. The Dragons are I suppose the main collectable, but all three are needed for progress. Dragons in particular also double as tutorial and lore pieces, as each tells you something when you free him. They also all look unique, with each of the five species having their own general look and each individual having his own textures. I go into a lot more detail in this blog post. This really makes the dragons in this game stand out amongst the series, as no other collectables are nearly as unique.

Gems I don’t really know what to say about. Many collectathon platformers have collectables like them: something spread around every level so you need to explore the entire play area. Gems are special in that each one has a different value: red being 1, green being 2, blue being 5, gold being 10, and purple being 25. And this spread shows approximately how common each was, with the lower values being more common and spread around, and the higher values being rewards for going into more out-of-the-way areas. Collecting them is satisfying, especially in larger amounts. Just watching the numbers spin is one of the highlights of this game, especially at the end of the bonus level.

Eggs are special. They come from chasing down blue thieves, which are the most annoying enemy in the game. Sure, now I can get them in one try, but back at the beginning the ones that don’t have a full circular path were the most annoying things, since if you got to the end, they’d just jump out of reach and taunt you.

Powerups

There’s two main powerups in this game: Superflame and Supercharge. Both have a couple of levels that use them extensively.

Superflame definitely is the weaker of the two. You get kissed by a fairy, turn red, and then for a limited amount of time you can use your flame breath to destroy metal objects and enemies. In the two levels it’s in, there’s an enemy you specifically need to use it on: the terrifying spiders and the enchanted suits of armor. The thing is, Superflame otherwise looks and works exactly like normal flame, just is usable on more things. While it’s cool to get the limitless one in Haunted Towers, overall it’s not a very memorable ability, and is improved dramatically in the sequels.

Supercharge you get from charging over lit arrows, and it enhances your charge to work on larger enemies and makes you go really, really fast. It takes a bit to master, but once you do, it is a very satisfying skill to use. Too bad none of the levels in this game have a limitless track to use it on. The levels that use it use it in very creative ways, including the one where I’m not even sure how you’re supposed to know the path you’re supposed to take. It really spices up the gameplay, to the point where Tree Tops feels like an entirely different game. And if you know me, you know that I love games that spice up the gameplay.

Bosses

The one weak point of this game is its bosses. They’re basically normal enemies, just with a slight gimmick. And that gimmick usually involves a large battlefield where they will run away from you. It does make you feel powerful: after all, they’re running away from the fire-breathing dragon attacking them. But at the same time, they offer very little challenge. The only really interesting one is Metalhead with his electric-guarded power generators, but even then, it’s not like he can hit you or anything unless you’re standing completely still. And the final boss is only hard because of how many holes the stage has in it. Not at all because of Gnasty. He’s still the most likely to directly hit you of all the bosses, but that’s not saying much.

Levels

The levels are all themed to their world, which is pretty neat, but does get repetitive at times. Still, it made each world feel more real.

Speaking of things feeling more real, something I’ve noticed is that Spyro the Dragon doesn’t fall into the same pitfall of having platforms that are just platforms because this is a platformer. Every piece of land is connected to something, oftentimes even in Dream Weavers which is literally floating islands. Moving platforms are caused by wizards, dangerous platforms are caused by Gnorcs zapping them, and often random platforms in the middle of the level are themed to it, like the stumps in Beast Makers.

The game progresses from easy to hard very smoothly, adding more gimmicks and platforming challenges as it goes along. This is also shown by the Gnorcs getting more competent as the game goes along, beginning with no weaponry in Artisans, getting cannons in Peacekeepers, electricity in Beast Makers, and finally machine guns in Gnorc Gnexus. Too bad Gnasty never learned to use a gun.

Story

Gnasty Gnorc turns all the dragons into crystal for insulting him on live TV. And if you read the instruction manual you learn that he hates gems because he hates his own reflection because he is too ugly. Really, there’s not too much here, but that’s not the point of the game. At least it’s not a save-the-girl plot. You don’t really see save-the-adults too often.

Unique in the Series?

Truly what makes this game unique is the fact that it’s completely platforming-based. No minigames, few gimmicks, just the entire game is platforming and collecting stuff.

This comes with a lack of real NPCs, which many people find makes the game lonely, but I don’t mind at all. It’s definitely a different feel from later games, but it’s not in a bad way.

Also something I’m surprised is unique to this game is the fact that many of the secrets involve going onto parts of the level that look like they should not be accessible. You glide onto the surrounding hillsides in Stone Hill, you climb up nearly-invisible steps in Terrace village, and you use the walls that look just like random scenery to fully explore Misty Bog. This type of thing isn’t used in future Spyro games, and rarely (if ever?) in video games in general. Truly a unique experience that has since turned me into an accidental bug hunter because I keep trying to get out-of-bounds just in case in other games.

Conclusion

All-in-all, Spyro the Dragon is tied for my favorite video game of all time with its sequel, Spyro 2. I compare everything I play to these games. They’re just the standard. I love them. Nostalgia-bias? Maybe. But despite there being a few flaws, I can’t really find fault when I play it. It’s too fun.