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The Skylanders are legendary heroes and champions, protectors of their world, Skylands, as well as the main playable characters in the Skylanders series. Using their powerful abilities, the Skylanders have defended their world for generations, keeping peace and balance.
At one point, Kaos banished many of the Skylanders to Earth, while others arrived by different means. Far away from the magic of Skylands, they shrunk and turned into immobile figures, requiring a Portal of Power in order to return to Skylands and come back to life.
Recruited by Portal Masters or graduated from Skylanders Academy, a new Skylander's image is engraved onto the Book of Skylanders and is bound to it.
Abilities
Each Skylander is aligned to a single element: Air, Dark, Earth, Fire, Life, Light, Magic, Tech, Undead, or Water. The elemental alignment of each Skylander makes them strong against one element and weak against another element in the older games' Battle Arenas: Earth is strong against Tech, Tech is strong against Magic, Magic is strong against Undead, Undead is strong against Life, Life is strong against Water, Water is strong against Fire, Fire is strong against Air, and Air is strong against Earth. This "rock-paper-scissors" mechanic is somewhat offset by the variety of stats and abilities.
History
Fall of the Arkeyans
It was said that the Giants were the original Skylanders who banded together to fight an evil empire. Ten thousand years ago, the Giants battled against the tyrannical Arkeyans for the freedom of Skylands. In a final battle against the Arkeyans, the Giants were shot to Earth as a form of sacrifice, where they’ve been buried underground ever since. As the years passed, these enormous Skylanders were soon considered as a myth.
There have been hundreds of Skylanders in the past, and today, there are dozens, maintaining their role in protecting Skylands from the forces of darkness. Despite the fact that some of the Skylanders come from different realms/worlds and they each have their own personal struggles, they all know it is their duty to use their abilities and protect Skylands.
For generations, the Skylanders worked with the Portal Masters in keeping peace and balance in their world, battling the forces of darkness, and protecting their signature position (the Core of Light, Cloudbreak Islands, etc). The Skylanders have an unbreakable bond with their Portal Masters. Though they are not servants, the Skylanders chose to serve their Portal Master and do so eagerly. They are also friends with the Fairies, particularly because fairies can turn treasure into upgrade magic that gives the Skylanders new powers and abilities, including fresh breath.
Cloudbreak Eruption
A hundred years ago, a group of Skylanders had protected the Cloudbreak Islands and its magical volcano that regenerates the magic in all of Skylands every one hundred years. During the peak of the previous eruption, an evil presence threatened the Ancient Elementals while they were performing the ritual that causes the volcano to erupt and spread the magic throughout the world. This sinister force summoned a swarm of Fire Vipers to attack the Elementals, but the team of Skylanders were able to defeat them in an epic battle. However, those Skylanders were caught in the eruption of the volcano and were banished to Earth, but not before the magical energies of the eruption granted them the ability to swap halves, thus turning them into a special team of Skylanders known as the SWAP Force.
A Purple Dragon's Adventure
The modern-day Core Skylanders were previously led by the veteran Portal Master, Master Eon, until The Darkness returned one day. Seeing the incoming threat, Eon called the Skylanders, including Spyro the Dragon, to prepare for battle as the evil Portal Master, Kaos, returned from his exile to once again attempt to destroy the Core of Light and rule Skylands as its emperor. By Eon's command, the Skylanders fought valiantly against Kaos's dark forces, but as they were winning the struggle, Kaos released his Hydra, who successfully destroyed the Core of Light in a devastating blast.
Shortly after the Core's destruction, the Skylanders who guarded it were banished from Skylands to Earth, where they were turned into toys as a result of Earth bearing no magic, and waited for a new Portal Master to find them. Although Master Eon survived the destruction of the Core of Light, he became a spirit and was unable to fight Kaos and The Darkness, leaving the duty of leading the Skylanders to the new, young Portal Master. After Master Eon recruited the new Portal Master, the Skylanders made their suprising return to Skylands, arriving on the Shattered Island to save its Mabu inhabitants from a freak tornado that was ravaging their village. The heroes then began their quest to save Skylands from Kaos' tyranny with the new Portal Master guiding them.
After Kaos's defeat in his lair, three of the Skylanders (Spyro, Gill Grunt, and Trigger Happy) returned to the Ruins with the captive Kaos, and Hugo later banished the evil Portal Master to Earth, where he was shrunk and turned into a toy. However, Master Eon hinted to the new Portal Master that the journey with their Skylanders was only the beginning.
The Return of the Giants
The Skylanders are still trapped on Earth, frozen as toys. A few of them have been collected and placed inside displays of a toy store called Super Toy Planet, where the toy form of Kaos was also housed in. However, Kaos broke free of his statue-like form due to his Portal Master status, and the frozen Skylanders inside a toy display nearby could do nothing, but make idle threats to Kaos as the evil Portal Master taunted them before returning to Skylands with the use of a Portal of Power.
Meanwhile, the new Portal Master had recovered a Giant, and Master Eon sought them out in order to save Skylands once again from a new threat. The Skylanders, and the Giants, prevailed in stopping Kaos from ruling Skylands with an army of Arkeyan robots.
The Trap Team
When a group of most notorious villains called the Doom Raiders terrorized Skylands without mercy, a group of Skylanders called the Trap Team were called forth to track down these evildoers and put to a stop to their plans. These Skylanders wielded legendary Traptanium weapons that allowed them to defeat the Doom Raiders and imprison them in the most impenetrable fortress called Cloudcracker Prison. Many years later however, Kaos destroyed the prison, which not only freed the villains, but also hurled the Trap Team far away from Skylands to Earth where they were found by the new Portal Masters. In the wake of the explosion of Cloudcracker Prison, the foundation of Skylands was fractured, unleashing two new elements: pure light and utter darkness.
The SuperChargers
Kaos used the power of The Darkness to create a large machine of destruction called The Sky Eater. This massive construct disconnected the portal network between Skylands and other worlds including Earth, at first preventing the Portal Master and their Skylanders from reaching Skylands. To combat this threat, a special team of Skylanders, known as the SuperChargers, was assembled. Piloting vehicles powered by the legendary Rift Engines, these Skylanders were able to travel through portals between Skylands and worlds beyond.
Senseis and Imaginators
The Senseis are each masters of different fighting styles and secret battle techniques. For many years, it had been their mission to explore the furthest reaches of Skylands, searching for potential heroes to train in the fight against evil. However, with Kaos unleashing Mind Magic to create villainous Doomlanders, Master Eon has summoned the Senseis to return and lead a new generation of heroes into battle – the Imaginators.
The Imaginators are created by the imagination of Portal Masters, using elementally aligned Creation Crystals. After being born from a constellation representing a Battle Class, their appearances and abilities can be changed in numerous ways. Their powers are mainly determined by their class, with only a small selection of elemental abilities. Imaginators are exceptionally powerful against Doomlanders, and every Sensei helps them to grow even stronger.
Other appearances
Alternate History
In Skylanders Academy's canon, the Skylanders were founded entirely by Master Eon, who opened the Skylanders Academy after the terrible events of the Great War and the growing threats of powerful villains. In this continuity, the first few Skylanders are characters from several different groups of the game's story, including Ka-Boom, Snap Shot, Jet-Vac and Pop Fizz; even after decades they continue to protect the realm through heroic deeds and important jobs as professors or prison wardens. Over the years, many cadets have taken their courses, and those who are prepared enough to suceed in the Skylander Games are honored with their position on the Skylanders team, bound forever to the Book of Skylanders.
The current core team of the Skylanders is known as Team Spyro, being the primary group to answer to missions in nearby regions, both to defend others from evil acts, or offer a variety of services. The group is formed by newly graduated Skylanders, Spyro, Stealth Elf and Eruptor, and by veterans Jet-Vac and Pop Fizz.
As of Season 2, age has started catching up to many of the veteran Skylanders, many who have already retired or do so during the show's events. In Season 3, Master Eon's death would lead Kaossandra to take over as the Academy's headmaster, with the progress of the cadets left unknown.
A Ring of Heroes
Only able to manifest as a spirit, Master Eon once again took over while the Earth Portal Masters were away. During a time of peace, Kaos uncovered the Book of Dark Magic, disrupting the rifts by accident this time and dragging the Earth Portal Masters into Skylands. Once again, many Skylanders were scattered away from their base, but they slowly made their way back with Master Eon's efforts to repair the rifts and the power of the once-agan-rebuilt Core of Light to call them to the new Academy branch.
Despite having no new groups to guide them towards their new mission, the Skylanders took the time to chase down both Kaos and the Doom Raiders, as well as helping the leaders they met in person for the first time to get used to the strange new realm in the Shattered Islands.
Through conflicts involving both evil and each other and awkward conversations, they defeated the villains and recovered the book with the Portal Master's quick thinking, allowing Master Eon to repair the damage and send the Skylanders' current leader back home. But to their delight, their portal was still working on Earth, allowing them to return whenever for more adventures and to stop new threats. Over time, the Portal Master also recieved visits from Skylanders with incredible skills in distinct fighting styles, as they returned to the Academy from a long trip with a lot to teach...
List of Skylanders
Fire
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Life
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Magic
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Tech
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Undead
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Water
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Dark
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Light
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Kaos
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Creations
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Unplayable Skylanders
Some Skylanders introduced or mentioned in Skylanders Academy are currently not playable in the games. It is unknown if some of them are still on the team.
- Bad Breath
- Cobalt the Brave
- Sharon the Victorious
- Edwin the Meek at First but Eventually Brave and Victorious
- Cy (Uncreatable Imaginator)
Gallery
Trivia
- In the series' marketing, Skylanders that do not belong to any specific team are called Core Skylanders.[1]
- Possibly as a pun, Team Spyro in Skylanders Academy is known as the core Skylander team, both for being the first to be called to missions and for being composed entirely of Core Skylanders.
- There is at least one dragon Skylander in every element, four of which are hybrids between dragons and another species (Whirlwind, Sunburn, Camo, and High Five).
- The Light and Dark dragons (Spotlight and Blackout) are the only Core Skylanders of their respective elements, followed by Light and Dark variants of other Core Skylanders in Ring of Heroes.
- All of the Skylanders originally spoke their own gibberish languages in Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, but as the project went on, Toys for Bob decided to give fourteen of them actual English lines.[2]
- Since Skylanders: Giants, every Skylander can speak full English lines, though some kept lines in gibberish in their attacks.
- In Giants, all Skylanders from Spyro's Adventure receives a unique animation when checking their stats.
- Interestingly, despite the game is suppose to be focused on the Giants, they don't have any unique animations on their stats, neither the new core Skylanders introduced in the game.
- When a Skylander travels through a portal, it is usual for them to yell out a fierce battle cry when they appear. In fact, every year, there is a contest to see whose battle cry is the loudest; the most frightening, and the best for making milk shoot out from people's noses.
- When Skylanders are defeated in battle, they do not die, but are instantly teleported back home where they can heal and rest.
- Developer James Weir asks, "How do we make Skylanders? Well, with a little dedication, inspiration and a dash of talent, all blended together and topped with some crazy. Bam!" [3]
- In Skylanders: Swap Force and onward, Toys for Bob and Vicarious Visions used generic names for all the new Skylanders before the final names were decided upon.[4] In newer games, some Skylanders keep these placeholder names in the in-game files even after their debut, though most are eventually updated.
- With the exception of Spyro's Adventure, each main Skylanders game introduces a new group of Skylanders that are the title characters.
- So far none of the Starter Pack Skylanders (except for the ones in Skylanders: SuperChargers, which are randomly earned through treasure chests) have their Soul Gems in the first chapters of their respective games.
- In the Future of Skylands, it is implied that at some point in Skylands' history that the group will be extinguished or suffer an unknown fate, as the Mabu Defense Force will take their role and bring up frequently that the Skylanders are thought to be gone.
- While guest stars like Crash Bandicoot and Hammer Slam Bowser have relatives in their respective franchises, most Skylanders have no known family or are not mentioned to be in frequent contact with them, possibly for their protection. The only ones known to stay in touch with them are Sonic Boom and her children, Eye-Brawl and the eyeball's brothers including Dive-Clops, Ignitor and his mother[5], Bad Juju and her son Juju Junior, and Aurora and her uncle Master Eon.
- Though Skylanders are not mentioned to retire in the main series, in Skylanders Academy, many have retired and left their weapons at the Relics Room to make way for a younger generation.[6] Specifically, Ninjini and Snap Shot are known retirees that still live near the Academy.
- Also in Skylanders Academy, the Skylanders have a holiday named after them.
- As seen in Ring of Heroes, most Skylanders are on average much smaller than a human. However, as the Giants in the game are not to scale, their true relative size is unknown.
- Though their fight against evil is constant, Skylanders are allowed small vacations to get away from the heat of battle in small groups, as seen in Cynder Confronts the Weather Wizard and when Master Eon allowed them to visit the Meditation Woodland after being invited in Ring of Heroes.
References
- ↑ Skylanders Trap Team Fact Sheet October.
- ↑ The 27 Hidden Secrets of Skylanders. (Date Posted - Dec. 20, 2011). One of Swords.
- ↑ Strata: The Art of Skylanders Swap Force. (Date Posted: Feb. 19, 2024).
- ↑ Skylanders Swap Force Preview: Inside the Halls of Vicarious Visions. (Date Posted - Sep. 19, 2013). TheHDRoom
- ↑ Skylanders: Book of Elements: Fire and Water, page 39
- ↑ ...that a lot of elder statesman Skylanders DO retire to make way for the youngsters.. (Date Posted - Aug 4, 2017). Twitter.
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