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“One Strike and You're Out!”
    —Lightning Rod's official catchphrase

Lightning Rod is an Air storm giant Skylander from Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure.

Background

Personality

Lightning Rod prides himself on being the most macho of all the other storm giants in Skylands[2], though he isn't used to sharing the spotlight. He is brave, but can also be charming and charismatic. Lightning Rod even considers everyone else in Skylands to be 'girlie', especially girls, and few are brave enough to argue with him![3] He is fully aware of his own monumental talents and is happy to blow his own trumpet, but happier to blast evildoers with thunder and lightning.[4]

Biography

Lightning Rod once lived in the majestic Cloud Kingdom, where his countless acts of heroism along with his winning smile and electric physique made him the most famous storm giant in the realm. He was a true celebrity, and the palace halls were littered with statues of the chiseled hero. But all the praise and admiration could never quite satisfy Rod, who yearned for something more. As luck would have it, he met an adventurous young dragon named Spyro, who told him fantastic stories of faraway places and dangerous adventures. Rod was spellbound, and he set off with Spyro to seek an audience with Eon to join the Skylanders.

Story

Lightning Rod Faces the Cyclops Queen

At the start of the Annual Storm Titan Games, Lightning Rod accidentally hurled a large hammer in the path of Flynn's balloon, causing it to spiral out of the control. The Skylanders quickly sprang into action, knocking away the balloon's dangerous debris from the spectators within the stadium and saving Flynn, Double Trouble, Hugo and a Warrior Librarian named Squirmgrub who were onboard the balloon from crashing. Hugo then told Master Eon that the Mask of Power had revealed the location of the next fragment to the Mask of Power, and that Squirmgrub has also discovered something about the malevolent item.

Lighting Rod Cannonball

To save his friends, Lightning Rod shows his power by punching an incoming cannonball to pieces.

Within the stadium, the Skylanders discovered that the Air segment to the Mask of Power has seemingly taken on the form of a Land Whale, which was stationed at a zoo held by the Cyclops Queen at Tempest Towers. Master Eon sends Lightning Rod, Pop Fizz, Drobot, Double TroubleCali, and Flynn to the Tempest Towers that lay beyond the Sea of Storms in their mission to claim the Air fragment before Kaos made his move. However before they could depart, Kaos captured Cali, who knew the path to Tempest Towers. The Skylanders gave chase, following Kaos while trekking through the Sea of Storms and battling Windbag Djinnis in the process. They managed to get to Tempest Towers and trick their way inside with Pop Fizz's Berserker form posing as a never-before-seen creature, while Flynn and Double Trouble kept a lookout for Kaos.

However after tricking the Cyclops Queen and her husband, Pipsqueak, the Skylanders were found out, and Lightning Rod and Drobot were thrown to the tank where the immobile Land Whale resided. The Storm Giant became hypnotized by the Whale and began walking towards its open jaws, but Drobot quickly distracted the monster long enough for Lightning Rod to break free of the Land Whale's hypnosis and save Drobot before he was eaten alive.

The two Skylanders escaped with Pop Fizz in time to see Kaos and his army of Drow battling against the Cyclops Queen's forces, with Kaos winning the struggle. Knowing that Kaos was after the Land Whale for the Air fragment, Lightning Rod hurled the Whale far from Tempest Towers, and the evil Portal Master hastily followed after it. The Skylanders were confused by Lighting Rod's action, but discovered that the Air fragment was really one of the towers of the city, which was made of Cyclopnite, the heaviest stone ever mined, and the opposite of the Air element.

Lightning Rod drank one of Pop Fizz's potions to grow to a humongous size big enough to carry the tower back to the Eternal Archive. After releasing the animals imprisoned by the Cyclops Queen back to their respectable homes, and retrieving the Air segment, Lightning Rod was returned to his original size, and surprisingly shared the glory of stopping Kaos with the other Skylanders. Unknown to the Skylanders, there was a traitor in their mist who had been revealing the locations of the Mask of Power to Kaos: Squirmgrub. 

Stump Smash Crosses the Bone Dragon

Lightning Rod and Zoo Lou were assigned by Spyro to search Fantasm Forest for Master Eon, who was kidnapped by Squirmgrub. Later, when Stump Smash, Wrecking Ball, CountdownFlameslinger, Flynn and Glumshanks were stranded by the rampaging Bone Dragon, Lightning Rod saw their distress signal and whipped up a strong gale that blew the group all back to the Eternal Archives.

Trigger Happy Targets the Evil Kaos

Lightning Rod was among the Skylanders who assembled to stop Kaos from using the completed Mask of Power. At Kaos' Kastle, the storm giant provided the non-flying Skylanders floating clouds to help them get to the castle by air. When the Skylanders confronted Kaos, the evil Portal Master put on the Mask of Power and used its abilities to steal the powers of the Skylanders, including Lighting Rod's. With this advantage, Kaos would've finished off the Skylanders right there and then had it not been for the intervention of Master Eon teleporting his Skylanders out of harm's way. The Skylanders were at a loss, as they were nothing without their powers. Their spirits were lifted by Spyro, who refused to give up and provided his teammates a plan to protect the Core of Light by building a wall.

As soon as Kaos arrived to destroy the Core, the Skylanders fought against the powerful Portal Master, but were easily overwhelmed. All seemed lost, until Trigger Happy and the other Skylanders tricked Kaos into performing their powers all at once, causing Kaos to lose control. The Mask of Power was yanked from Kaos's face by Trigger Happy, restoring the Skylanders all of their powers. Together, they used their abilities to ultimately destroy the Mask of Power, defeat Kaos, and save Skylands once again.

Gameplay

Lightning Rod can throw bolts of lightning at his enemies, he can also summon a powerful blast of lightning from above and control where it strikes. Lightning Rod can even produce an electrical field from his cloud torso. In the Mask of Power novels, it has been revealed that Lightning Rod has god-like strength, as he was able to lift a 400 ton hammer and hurl it far, as well as take a cannon ball blast to the chest without any damage or harm, he could also control the weather in different ways, whether it would be creating a thunder storm, or creating mighty winds, he even could fly and create clouds that allow others to fly as well.

Stats

These are the starting and maximum Statistics for this Skylander in the Skylanders games.

  • Health: 290 (max. 580)
  • Speed: 43 (max. 91)
  • Armor: 18 (max. 48)
  • Critical Hit: 30 (max. 80)
  • Elemental Power: 46 (max. 96)

Warning: These stats are not used in any of the Skylander games. They are only listed for completeness reasons.

  • Strength: 65
  • Defense: 60
  • Agility: 60
  • Luck: 65

These are the starting and maximum Statistics for this Skylander in the Skylanders games.

  • Health: 435 (max. 870)
  • Speed: ??
  • Armor: ??
  • Critical Hit: ??
  • Elemental Power: ??

Warning: These stats are not used in any of the Skylander games. They are only listed for completeness reasons.

  • Strength: 75
  • Defense: 65
  • Agility: 70
  • Luck: 75

Abilities

Basic Abilities
These abilities are available from the start of the game.
Soul Gem Ability
Requires Soul Gem from:
Stonetown

Wow Pow Ability
Requires Series 2 Lightning Rod

Lightning Bolt Grand Lightning Summoning
Zapper Field Deluxe
Big Bolt
Lightning Rodprimarypower
Primary Ability
Throw a lightning bolt at enemies.
Lightning Rodsecondarypower
Secondary Ability
Bring lightning down from the sky and control where it moves.
Lightning Rodsoulgempower
Price: 4000
Zapper Field and clouds do extra damage.
View Wow Pow
Lightning Rodwowpowpower
Price: 5000
Hold Attack 1 to throw the biggest bolt of lightning known to man!
View Soul Gem
Basic Upgrades
Skylanders can buy new abilities from Persephone/Power Pods.
Lightning Lancer Thunderation Zapper Field Lightning Harpoon
Lightning Rodbasicupgrade1
Price: 500
Lightning Bolt does increased damage.
Lightning Rodbasicupgrade2
Price: 700
Grand Lightning attack lasts longer and does increased damage.
Lightning Rodbasicupgrade3
Price: 900
Create a electrical storm that damages enemies.
Lightning Rodbasicupgrade4
Price: 1200
Lighting Bolts stick into enemies and continue to damage them.
Lightning Lord
View Typhoon Titan
This upgrade path lets you further develop your Grand Lightning attack.
Faster Caster Electricity City Lightning Avatar
Lightning Rodpath1upgrade1
Price: 1700
Summon the Grand Lightning attack much faster.
Lightning Rodpath1upgrade2
Price: 2200
Grand Lightning attack has even more power and does more damage.
Lightning Rodpath1upgrade3
Price: 3000
Summon the most powerful Grand Lightning attack ever!
Typhoon Titan
View Lightning Lord
This upgrade path lets you further develop defensive clouds.
Cloud Zapper Satellite Zappier Sats Zapper Satellite Defense
Lightning Rodpath2upgrade1
Price: 1700
A protective cloud follows you and zaps any enemies that come near.
Lightning Rodpath2upgrade2
Price: 2200
Protective zapper clouds do increased damage.
Lightning Rodpath2upgrade3
Price: 3000
A third protective cloud joins you.

Lightning Rodheroability1

Lightning Arrow (Active)

1 enemy
Inflicts 117% of ATK as damage to 1 enemy, and grants the Effect Resistance DOWN 10% Effect for 1 turn(s) with a 40% chance when you attack accurately. Able to put the enemy in Knockdown Status.

Mana cost: 2
Cooldown: 3 seconds


Lightning Rodheroability2

Magnificent Flash of Lightning (Active)

[All Enemies]
Inflicts 57% of ATK as damage to the enemy and the nearby enemy, and grants the Electric Shock Effect for 1 turn(s) with a 20% chance when you attack accurately.

Mana cost: 3
Cooldown: 4 seconds


Lightning Rodheroability3

Electric Field (Passive)

[SELF]
Grants the Electric Shock Effect for 1 turn(s) with a 25% chance whenever the enemy evades your attack.

Mana cost:
Cooldown:

Skylanders can use abilities depending on their level.

Starting Powers

  • Lightning Bolt (Primary Attack): Press (Y) to hurl Lightning Rod's bolt at enemies.
  • Thunder Strike (Secondary Attack): Press (X) to summon a powerful electric surge from above. It will last for a few moments and damage any enemies that it touches.

Upgrades

  • Stormlord (requires level: 3): When Lightning Rod tosses a Bolt (Y), he will also damage nearby enemies.
  • Stormcaller (requires level: 6): When a Thunder Strike (X) ends, it will burst and damage nearby enemies. Lightning Rod will also move faster while Thunder Strike is damaging enemies.
  • Air Master (requires level: 9): Hold (X) to send Lightning Rod's Thunder Strike forwards, damaging all enemies in its path.

Mystic Seeker Scroll

Gain a 20% Damage bonus while in the Radiant Isles. The scroll for this upgrade can be found in Breakmarsh.

Quests

Basic Quests

  • Monster Masher: Defeat 1000 enemies.
  • Chow Hound: Eat 50 pieces of food.
  • Arena Artist: Complete an arena without taking any damage.
  • Battle Champ: Win 10 PvP matches.
  • Heroic Challenger: Complete a heroic challenge without taking any damage.

Elemental Quests

  • Elementalist: Cause 7500 elemental bonus damage.
  • Skylooter: Collect 500 gold while in midair.
  • From Above: Defeat 25 enemies while in midair.

Unique Quest

  • Current Event: Defeat 10 enemies with one Grand Lightning strike.

Basic Quests

  • Bad Guy Basher: Defeat 1000 enemies.
  • Fruit Frontiersman: Eat 15 fruit.
  • Flawless Challenger: Complete a non-Story Mode level at full health.
  • True Gladiator: Win 10 PVP matches.
  • Totally Maxed Out: Reach level 20 and purchase all Upgrades for this Skylander.

Elemental Quests

  • Elementalist: Deal 7500 elemental bonus damage.
  • Geronimo!: Travel over 250 feet in one fall.
  • Skylooter: Collect 500 gold while in midair.

Unique Quest

  • Current Event: Defeat 50 Golems.

Quotes

Battle Cries

  • "One Strike and You're Out!"
  • "A jolt from the heavens!"
  • "Todays forecast: Me!"
  • "Lightning shall reign!"
  • "A shower of power!"
  • "Feel my thunder!"
  • "This bolt's for you!"
  • "Bring forth the thunder!"
  • "You cannot hold back nature!"
  • "Storm coming through!"
  • "These stats are shocking!" - when checking stats
  • "Those numbers are electrifying!" - when checking stats
  • "This mustn't mess with my hair!" - when given a hat
  • "A crown fit for a king!" - when given a hat
  • "So be it!" - when given a nickname
  • "I am known by many names." - when given a nickname

Media Quotes

It's Christmas 4 Bad Guyz 2

  • "Behold! Christmas wishes from all the many great heroes of Skylands!"

Book Quotes

Skylanders: Lightning Rod Faces the Cyclops Queen

  • "By my beard and biceps, I shall save them!"
  • "Lightning Rod. Champion of the Cloud Kingdom. Master of Lightning. Winner of the mightiest beard ten years running. You have heard of me, yes?"

Character Trailers

Gallery

Lightning Rod/Gallery

Trivia

  • Lightning Rod seems to be based on Zeus from Greek Mythology.
  • Lightning Rod, the Leviathan and Persephone are the only three characters to be based on Greek Mythology.
  • Lightning Rod is the only Skylander whose toy stand is also his body.
  • He is the only Air Skylander who doesn't fly, though he is considered already a flying Skylander, as he is levitating.
  • According to the Skylanders Sticker Book: Meet the Skylanders for Spyro's Adventure, Lightning Rod was invited by Master Eon to join the Skylanders after witnessing the storm giant drive away Kaos with a powerful lightning bolt.[5] This backstory differs greatly from his official game biography, though this biography was approved by Activision, making it somewhat official as well.
  • Though Lightning Rod's species is Storm Giant, his Skylander class is not a Giant.
    • In Lightning Rod and the Cyclops Queen, his species is referred as a storm titan.
  • His hair is purple in some of his upgrade pictures. However, this is fixed in Skylanders: Giants.
    • Interestingly, the male Storm Titans in Cloud Kingdom all possess blue hair, while female Titans are brown-haired.
  • Lightning Rod, Warnado, and Jet-Vac are the only Air Skylanders who don't need wings to fly.
  • Skylantis statue

    A statue of Lightning Rod in the Cloud Kingdom in Skylanders: SuperChargers.

    His Heroic Challenge, "Fight, Teleport, Fight" has a bug on some console versions where the tribal mask will not appear at the end of his challenge in Spyro's Adventure. The glitch appears to be fixed in Giants as the mask will appear at the end of the level, allowing the Skylander to complete his challenge without any problems.
  • For some reason, Lightning Rod can't go over water in the Xbox 360 and PC versions of Spyro's Adventure.
  • His catchphrase is a pun on "Three Strikes And You're Out!"
  • Lightning Rod is voiced by Alex Ness, who also voices Drobot, Double Trouble, Broccoli Guy and the Chompy Mage.
  • Whispering quietly is not Lightning Rod's strong point.[6]
  • There is a glitch that removes Lightning Rod's cloud and make him appear without any legs. To perform this, the player must approach the Mirror of Mystery figure next to the vortex. Press the button that makes Glumshanks appear to come and speak. Lastly, the player has to choose "NO", which will cause the cloud below Lightning Rod to disappear as well as the swirling purple vortex.
  • True to his backstory, in Skylanders: SuperChargers, there are several statues of Lightning Rod around the Cloud Kingdom.
  • He is similar to the Lightning Lord enemies from Mega Man 2 in name, appearance, and gameplay. One of his upgrade paths also shares the name with said enemies.
  • His series 1 figure has him holding one lightning bolt, and his series 2 has him holding two.

References

  1. Skylanders: Portal Casters 10th Anniversary Celebration Pt. 5 - Alex Ness. (Date Posted - Oct 16, 2021). YouTube.
  2. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure Q&A. (Date Posted - Sep. 23, 2011). KidzWorld
  3. Skylanders Official Annual 2013, page 31
  4. Skylanders Universe: The Complete Collection, page 10
  5. Skylanders Sticker Book: Meet the Skylanders, page 84
  6. Skylanders Mask of Power: Lightning Rod Faces the Cyclops Queen, Kindle Edition, page 99.

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
Lightning Rod - Sonic Boom - Warnado - Whirlwind
Skylanders: Giants
Jet-Vac - Swarm
Skylanders: Swap Force
Boom Jet - Free Ranger - Pop Thorn - Scratch
Skylanders: Trap Team
Blades - Fling Kong - Gusto - Thunderbolt
Skylanders: SuperChargers
Hurricane Jet-Vac - Stormblade
Skylanders: Imaginators
Air Strike - Bad Juju - Wild Storm
Minis / Eon's Elite
Breeze - Pet-Vac / Elite Whirlwind
Alt Decos
Egg Bomber Air Strike - Legendary Blades - Legendary Free Ranger - Legendary Hurricane Jet-Vac
Legendary Jet-Vac - Mystical Bad Juju - Polar Whirlwind - Power Punch Pet-Vac
Lost Islands Alter Egos
Buttered Pop Thorn - Gourmet Gusto

Skylanders: Trap Team
Blackout - Knight Mare
Skylanders: SuperChargers
Nightfall
Skylanders: Imaginators
Hood Sickle - Starcast
Alt Deco
Steel Plated Hood Sickle
Ring of Heroes Alter Egos
Shadow King Pen - Shadow Spitfire - Shadow Spyro

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
Bash - Dino-Rang - Prism Break - Terrafin
Skylanders: Giants
Crusher - Flashwing
Skylanders: Swap Force
Doom Stone - Rubble Rouser - Scorp - Slobber Tooth
Skylanders: Trap Team
Fist Bump - Head Rush - Rocky Roll -Wallop
Skylanders: SuperChargers
Shark Shooter Terrafin - Smash Hit
Skylanders: Imaginators
Barbella - Golden Queen - Tri-Tip
Minis / Eon's Elite
Bop - Terrabite / Elite Dino-Rang - Elite Terrafin
Alt Decos
Dark Golden Queen - Dark Slobber Tooth - Granite Crusher - Jade Flashwing
Legendary Bash - Legendary Tri-Tip - Nitro Head Rush - Steel Plated Smash Hit
Lost Islands Alter Egos
Birthday Bash - Rocky Egg Roll - Sundae Slobber Tooth

Skylanders: Trap Team
Knight Light - Spotlight
Skylanders: SuperChargers
Astroblast
Skylanders: Imaginators
Aurora - Blaster-Tron
Alt Decos
Legendary Astroblast - Solar Flare Aurora
Ring of Heroes Alter Egos
Light Flashwing - Light Hex - Light Jet-Vac

Other Skylanders

Skylanders: Imaginators
Kaos - Imaginators

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