Skylanders is a video game franchise by Activision Publishing, Inc. that contains the concept of toys and video games coming together. Playable characters are unlocked in the game when their toy action figures are placed on a device called the Portal of Power. It serves as the second reboot and spin-off to the Spyro franchise.[1]
Skylanders
The Skylanders are the main playable characters in the Skylanders franchise. They are legendary heroes; champions in the world of Skylands. Their ancient mission is to protect Skylands and its magical Core of Light that kept the ultimate force behind all evil, The Darkness, at bay. Using their magical powers and machinery, the Skylanders defended their world for generations with the help of the Portal Masters.
Spyro the Dragon is implied to take the leader role of the Skylanders when a Portal Master isn't available.
Abilities
Each Skylander wields a single element: Air, Dark, Earth, Fire, Life, Light, Magic, Tech, Undead, and Water. So far, there are a total of 167 main Skylanders in the series, including 32 from Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, 16 from Skylanders: Giants, 32 from Skylanders: Swap Force, 36 from Skylanders: Trap Team, 20 from Skylanders: Superchargers and 31 from Skylanders: Imaginators. The total increases to 183 if you include the 16 Minis.
Games
Main series
- Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (2011)
- Skylanders: Giants (2012)
- Skylanders: Swap Force (2013)
- Skylanders: Trap Team (2014)
- Skylanders: SuperChargers (2015)
- Skylanders: Imaginators (2016)
Spin-offs
- Skylanders: Universe (2011-2013; discontinued)
- Skylanders: Cloud Patrol (2012-2016; discontinued)
- Skylanders: Lost Islands (2012-2017; discontinued)
- Skylanders: Battlegrounds (2012-2016; discontinued)
- Skylanders: Battlecast (2016-2017; discontinued)
- Skylanders: Ring of Heroes (2018-2022; discontinued)
Developers
The main developers of the Skylanders franchise is Toys For Bob, who developed Spyro's Adventure and Giants. Vicarious Visions took over developing Skylanders: Swap Force, creating a whole new atmosphere for the franchise. As Skylanders became a $2 million dollar franchise, Activision announced that the franchise will be in a 2-year development rotation, with Toys for Bob working on Skylanders: Trap Team after they took a break last year when Vicarious Visions developed Swap Force.[2]
Toys For Bob
- Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (Wii, Wii U)
- Skylanders: Giants (Wii, Wii U, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
- Skylanders: Trap Team (Wii, Wii U, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, iOS, Android)
- Skylanders: Imaginators
Vicarious Visions
- Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (Nintendo 3DS)
- Skylanders: Giants (Wii U)
- Skylanders: Swap Force (Wii, Wii U, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
- Skylanders: Trap Team (iOS, Android)
- Skylanders: SuperChargers
- Skylanders: Imaginators
Beenox
- Skylanders: Swap Force (Wii)
- Skylanders: Trap Team (Wii U, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo 3DS)
- Skylanders: SuperChargers Racing
XPEC Entertainment
- Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC)
- Skylanders: Giants (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
n-Space
- Skylanders: Giants (Nintendo 3DS)
- Skylanders: Swap Force (Nintendo 3DS)
Books
Novels
- The Machine of Doom
- Spyro versus The Mega Monsters
- Gill Grunt and the Curse of the Fish Master
- Lightning Rod Faces the Cyclops Queen
- Terrafin Battles the Boom Brothers
- Cynder Confronts the Weather Wizard
- Stump Smash Crosses the Bone Dragon
- Eruptor Meets the Nightmare King
- Trigger Happy Targets the Evil Kaos
Misc. Official Books
- Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (Official Strategy Guide)
- Skylanders: Giants (Official Strategy Guide)
- Skylanders: Trap Team Eon's Official Strategy Guide
- Book of Elements: Fire and Water
- Book of Elements: Magic and Tech
- Book of Elements: Life and Undead
- Book of Elements: Air and Earth
- Book of Kaos
Comics
Media
Trivia
- Each game was associated with certain colors, even those without base borders.
- Spyro's Adventure was associated with light blue, with green bases.
- Giants was associated with orange, with matching bases.
- Swap Force was associated with green, with cyan bases.
- Trap Team was associated with both red and blue, with red bases.
- SuperChargers was associated with vermillion, a much redder shade of orange compared to Giants.
- Imaginators was associated with dark blue, close to black.
- The mobile games use two different colors for their logos - a blueish green and orange with a yellow gradient, though Battlegrounds has their positions inverted.
- 2017 was the first year that did not receive a main Skylanders title, receiving new content for Imaginators instead. In 2018, only the mobile game Ring of Heroes was released.
- For various reasons, the main game that was supposed to succeed Imaginators was cancelled, with only remnants found in Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy's code: the unfinished Skylanders WranglerFire, BlasterTech and BruiserUndead.
- According to Software Engineer, Robert Leyland, they did plan a sequel or Year 2 for Imaginators which would have been about making quadruped Imaginators, including dragons.[3]
- Ring of Heroes, developed by Com2us, is the first Skylanders mobile game developed by a company not owned by Activision.
- When 3DS counterparts of the games were still released, they were the only versions to have world names succeeding the levels in that world; while the console only had Chapters around various themes (and, in SuperChargers' case, normal levels divided by said Chapters).
- In March 2021, the Skylanders website closed down. Instead, whenever a user goes to skylanders.com, they will be redirected to a Skylanders Imaginators page on Activision's main website.[4]
- Sometime during production of either Spyro's Adventure and Giants, Toys for Bob did think about an idea for a Skylanders game which involved the players creating their own levels. However, this was scrapped due to the announcement of Disney Infinity.[5]
- An idea involving a mutation virus infecting Skylanders was considered but was never finished. It would've acted similar to Pokémon's Pokerus, infecting a small number of characters that would spread to others that were on the same Portal as the infected Skylander. Being afflicted with this virus would give the Skylanders different possibilities, like a permament buff. A mass infection scenario would've had people come together to infect their characters to get the different possibilities of the mutation virus.[6]
- In 2012, Paul Reiche thought about the possibility of GPS functionality, laser and motion and light sensitivity to figures.[7] After Skylanders: Imaginators, Toys For Bob proposed a concept pitch to Activision for a Skylanders mobile game with GPS mechanics reminiscent to Pokémon GO. Every Skylander can be placed in the real world as an avatar, and you can locate other players' Skylanders with an AR system and see where they put their collection in the real world. However Activsion turned down the pitch twice.[8]
References
- ↑ Dark Horse: The Secret of Skylanders' Success. (Date Posted - Mar. 12, 2012). GamesIndustry.
- ↑ Skylanders Now A $2 Billion Franchise, Toys For Bob Leading 2014 Entry. (Date Posted - Feb 06, 2014). GameInformer.
- ↑ Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure DEVELOPER COMMENTARY - Episode 4: Software Engineer, Robert Leyland. (Date Posted - Jan 28, 2020). YouTube.
- ↑ Skylanders Imaginators on Activision's website. Activision.
- ↑ Skylanders 10 Year Anniversary - A Conversation with the Developers (Developer Stories!). (Date Posted - Oct. 12, 2021). YouTube.
- ↑ Portal Casters 10th Anniversary Celebration Pt. 2 - Paul Reiche, (Date Posted - Oct. 16, 2021). YouTube.
- ↑ Lasers, Voice, Photo-Sensors, GPS and Boomer, Ready for Skylanders 3? (Date Posted - Nov 22, 2012). WIRED.
- ↑ Portal Casters 10th Anniversary Celebration Pt. 2 - Paul Reiche, (Date Posted - Oct. 16, 2021). YouTube.
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