- “KA-BLAM!”
- —Tessa
Tessa is a fox girl who first appeared in Skylanders: Swap Force. She owns a large bird companion named Whiskers that she rides on for transportation. Near the end of Swap Force, she becomes the new Chieftess of Woodburrow.
Character Development
For Skylanders: Swap Force, Vicarious Visions needed a character that would help and guide Flynn and the Skylanders through the Cloudbreak Islands that was far from familiar regions of Skylands.[4]
Personality
Tessa is one who welcomes adventure, using her instincts to find her way if she is ever lost. She is shown to be a strong, brave leader in absence of the Chieftess, who no doubt saw the potential in Tessa. She often says 'Ka-Blam' when excited, which happens a lot.
Abilities
Although she possesses no unique abilities, Tessa is able to hold her own against large enemies, such as Bubba Greebs.
Story
History
Tessa spent her life reading and dreaming about adventure and the Skylanders. She met Whiskers when he was just a chick and rescued him from a slobbering pack of Chompies. Since then, she and Whiskers have protected the creatures of Cloudbreak, with Tessa being known as the best flyer around.[1]
Skylanders: Swap Force
When her village of Woodburrow came under attack by Greebles before the volcano celebration, Tessa escaped on her kestrel companion, Whiskers, to seek the help from the Skylanders. She ran into Flynn on the Dread-Yacht, mistaking him for a Skylander at first, but the conversation was cut short when a few Greeble Airships managed to track Tessa down. With the help of Flynn, they managed to escape their pursuers through the core of the Cloudbreak Volcano, but the Dread-Yacht took heavy damage in the process.
After the Skylanders defeated the Greebles and saved the Woodburrow villagers, Tessa helped the heroes on their mission to save the Ancient Elementals from Kaos's clutches. Once they drove off Baron von Shellshock, she remained in Woodburrow to assist the Chieftess. When all the Elementals were gathered in Woodburrow, the Chieftess proudly announced Tessa as the new Chieftess of the village just as the Volcano Celebration was beginning. However Kaos' Mom interrupted the ceremony and kidnapped Tessa, forcing the Skylanders to venture to Kaos' Fortress to save her and stop the evil Portal Master mother. While the Skylanders dealt with Kaos' Mom, Tessa was forced to tackle Bubba Greebs until he was called to fight the Skylanders.
Kaos's Mom was soon defeated, and both Tessa and Flynn proceeded to go to the Cloudbreak Volcano to stop Kaos from spreading darkness throughout Skylands. After the Skylanders defeated Kaos once more, Flynn, Tess and Sharpfin were able to escape the volcano eruption in time to celebrate in Woodburrow.
The Kaos Trap
Tessa was attending the grand opening of the Skylanders Academy when Flynn's Dread-Yacht was flying out of control. She hopped on Whiskers and flew up to the swerving ship to discover that Flynn had walked overboard and the Minis had been struggling to control the ship ever since. Tessa was forced to land the Dread-Yacht at the docks with everyone safely intact, despite having no experience in flying with machines.
When the Minis explained that Flynn walked off the Dread-Yacht with Chopper following after him, both Cali and Tessa decided to go and find them, both blushing slightly at the thought of checking on Flynn. On their way to the Boney Islands, Tessa and Cali heard Weeruptor's call for help and saw him dangling from a branch over open water. They were able to save him just in time, and discovered that the Weeruptor back at the Academy was an imposter. To ease Weeruptor's disappointment in not going back to the Academy right away, Tessa told the story about the Skylanders to the young Fire Skylander, from their history to the current generation of Skylanders known as the Trap Team.
Soon, the group came across a squadron of Troll Bombers that were attacking Chopper and Flynn, who was piloting an Arkeyan Copter. Thanks to Tessa's intervention with Whiskers, she saved Flynn from being blasted out of the sky. Weeruptor and Wildfire both entered the fray, successfully driving the Troll Bombers off. With everyone safe, they began the trek back to the Skylanders Academy to expose Kaos.
As soon as Tessa, Flynn, Cali, and Whiskers arrived at the Skylanders Academy, Kaos was already being driven out of the school by Food Fight.
Skylanders: Trap Team
Tessa and Whiskers made a surprise reappearance at the Phoenix Psanctuary, where Tessa had arrived to help protect the Phoenix Chicken that was being threatened by Chef Pepper Jack. Despite their efforts, the evil chef managed to steal one of the Phoenix Chicken's eggs and planned to use it to release his bomb, an omelette of doom, upon Skylands. Tessa followed the Skylanders back to the Skylanders Academy where she continued to lend her assistance to the heroes throughout their journey.
Skylanders Issue #12 (Graduation Day)
While preparing for the Skylanders Academy graduation, Tessa and the other adult faculty welcomed the arrival of a music band called "The Evil Imposters" who were hired to play music for the graduates. However The Evil Imposters turned out to be the Doom Raiders in disguise, and the Golden Queen turned everyone, including Tessa, into gold statues as they planned to ambush the other Skylanders when they arrive for the graduation. Luckily the Minis weren't caught by the Doom Raiders and managed to stop them, saving everyone and allowing themselves to graduate as full-fledged Skylanders.
Skylanders: SuperChargers
With the threat of Kaos's Sky Eater and the rifts it created, Tessa evacuated Woodburrow and decided to come to the Skylanders Academy to help the Skylanders.
Skylanders: Imaginators
She returned in the Adventure Pack chapter, Gryphon Park Observatory, along with Cali. They aided the Skylanders in recovering the Gryphon eggs stolen by the trolls. She also appeared as a Creation Clash player in the Abandoned Amusement Park.
Other appearances
Skylanders: Lost Islands
Tessa is an unlockable companion in Skylanders: Lost Islands. Upon being unlocked, she increases the Kingdom's Mabu population by 25%.
Relationships
Chieftess
Tessa sees the Chieftess as a mother figure in place of her biological parents.
Flynn
After witnessing Flynn's wild flying skills that saved them from the Greeble Airships, Tessa begins idolizing Flynn, recognizing him as his self-proclaimed title as 'the best pilot in all of Skylands'. She, however, finds Flynn's ways of handling enemies and obstacles questionable, but considers them effective. Due to living on the Cloudbreak Islands and possessing no knowledge on the rest of Skylands, Tessa wasn't aware that Flynn isn't what he claims to be until later adventures. She is often reassured by him at times, such as when she was worried about bringing Whiskers to Cap'n Cluck's HQ.
In the IDW comics, Tessa has feelings for Flynn.
Whiskers
Whiskers is Tessa's best friend and main use of transportation. She met Whiskers when he was just a chick after rescuing him from a pack of Chompies.[1] When Whiskers was evilized, Tessa was horrified and sharply demanded Shellshock to change him back to no avail. Soon, when Whiskers was freed, Tessa eagerly rushed over to reunite with her kestrel friend. She also felt uncomfortable when bringing Whiskers to Cap'n Cluck's Chicken HQ due to being worried that Whiskers could be taken away and cooked into a chicken meal, only to be reassured by Flynn.
Gallery
Trivia
- The armor on Tessa's right arm slightly resembles Kratos' Golden Fleece from the God of War series.
- According to Flynn, her hair smells like strawberries.
- Although she is a fox, her face resembles that of a feline.
- She is one of the only two characters to have feelings for Flynn. The other is Cali, as shown in the IDW comic The Kaos Trap.
- She and Whiskers are the only characters introduced in Swap Force to actually appear in Skylanders: Trap Team.
- She and Buzz set up more Villain Quests than other characters. In her case, Cross Crow, Threatpack, Tae Kwon Crow and Nightshade.
- Tessa has a small cameo in Skylanders: Battlecast in the card Exer-size.
- In the cutscene following the Motherly Mayhem level, Tessa appears holding a wooden bow whose origin is never explained. It is possible that she was intended to be an archer earlier in development, but the cutscene assets were never changed.
- Concept art supports this theory, depicting her with a bow and a quiver of leaf-fletched arrows.[5]
- Early concepts of Tessa depict her as a squirrel, in addition to wielding a spear.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Skylanders: Lost Islands, Tessa companion entry
- ↑ Kari Wahlgren’s Twitter. Twitter.
- ↑ Marysol Cantú’s resume
- ↑ Skylanders Portal Casters Christmas Episode 2023 - Celebrating 10 Years of Swap Force. (Date Posted - Dec. 25, 2023.) Youtube.
- ↑ Strata: The Art of Skylanders Swap Force. (Date Posted: Feb. 19, 2024).
- ↑ Strata: The Art of Skylanders Swap Force. (Date Posted: Feb. 19, 2024).