- “Hail to the Whale!”
- —Thumpback's official catchphrase
Thumpback is a whale-like behemoth who is one of the eight Giants in Skylanders: Giants. He has a sailor counterpart who is available in Skylanders: Lost Islands.
Background
Personality
Thumpback is steadfast, dependable, trustworthy, and gifted with the patience of an angler.[2]
Biography
Thumpback was once a crew member of The Phantom Tide, the most fearsome pirate ship in all of Skylands. But the actual pirating part about being a pirate didn't interest Thumpback so much as the benefits that came with traveling on a large ship. After all, his real passion was fishing. But when his chance came to finally ensnare the most elusive creature in the sky - the Leviathan Cloud Crab - he was pulled over board and carried off into the horizon. This was actually quite fortunate, because sometime later The Phantom Tide and its entire crew were banished to the Chest of Exile. Thumpback’s pirating days were over, but his legend as one of the first Skylanders had only just begun.
Story
History
Thumpback was once a fearsome member of a pirate crew on board a very large ship (and it had to be large, what with him being a Giant). They sailed the seas, shivering their timbers, saying "aargh" and mucking about with treasure. But Thumpback wasn't happy. The pirate stuff was all well and good, but the big whale monster's real passion was fishing. When the opportunity arose to snag the biggest catch of his life - the legendary Leviathan Cloud Crab - Thumpback couldn't pass it up. Things didn't quite go according to plan, however, and Thumpback was carried off by the cloud crab. He refused to let go, and the rest of the pirate crew could only watch as he was dragged across the sky and over the distant horizon.
The cloud crab eventually got away, and Thumpback never found his ship again. His days as a pirate were over, but when he joined the other Giants to help fend off the Arkeyans, his days as a Skylander had only just begun.[3]
Gameplay
Stats
These are the starting and maximum Statistics for this Skylander in the Skylanders games.
- Health: 460 (max. 920)
- Speed: 20 (max. 68)
- Armor: 30 (max. 60)
- Critical Hit: 50 (max. 100)
- Elemental Power: 25 (max. 75)
Warning: These stats are not used in any of the Skylander games. They are only listed for completeness reasons.
- Strength: 150
- Defense: 150
- Agility: 60
- Luck: 40
Abilities
| Basic Abilities These abilities are available from the start of the game. |
||||||
| Anchor Assault | Belly Flop |
Blowhard
| ||||
 Press the Attack 1 button to swing Thumpback's anchor at enemies. Press Attack 1, Attack 1, Hold Attack 1 for a special combo! |
 Press Attack 2 to dive into a belly flop, damaging enemies. |
 While belly sliding, press the Attack 1 button to spray water and starfish. | ||||
| Basic Upgrades Skylanders can buy new abilities from Persephone/Power Pods. | ||||||
| A Whale Of A Chomp | Slippery Belly | The Whalest Chomp | Now There's An Anchor! | |||
 Press Attack 3 for a big, whale-sized chomp. |
 Slide longer after a belly flop and do increased damage. |
 Bigger, most powerful Whale Chomp attack. |
 Increases Anchor Assault's damage. | |||
| Anchor's A-Yay!! |
|
| Thumpback Combos | Bermuda Triangle | Ultimate Anchor | ||
 Press Attack 1, Attack 1, and Hold attack 2 for Power Swing. Press Attack 1, Attack 1, and Hold Attack 3 for Whirlpool Ripper. |
 Increases the power of the Whirlpool Ripper combo attack. |
 Best anchor you can find! Does maximum damage. |
| Up Close And Personal |
|
| Breakfast in Bed | Armor Of The Sea | Bad Sushi | ||
 While Belly sliding, press Attack 3 to chomp enemies. |
 Seashells make for better armor. |
 Hold the Attack 3 button to release a stream of projectile water vomit, damaging enemies. |
 |
Hold the Anchor! (Active) | |
|
[1 enemy] |
Mana cost: 2 | |
 |
First Whale Show? (Active) | |
|
[All Enemy] |
Mana cost: 4 | |
 |
This Fishing Isn't So Bad (Active) | |
|
[SELF] |
Mana cost: 3 | |
 |
Natural Strength (Passive) | |
|
[SELF] |
||
 |
Humpback Whale's Vitality (Leader Passive) | |
|
[SELF] |
Mana cost: | |
Skylanders can use abilities depending on their level.
Starting Powers
- Anchor Assault (Primary Attack): Press (Y) repeatedly to hit enemies with your anchor.
- Grappling Iron (Secondary Attack): Press (X) to grapple enemies and pull them towards you. If you pull the enemy close enough, you will give them an extra smack with the side of your anchor!
Upgrades
- Ranged Anchor Assault (requires level: 3): Press (Y) to do ranged version of an Anchor Assault move.
- Whalecopter (requires level: 6): Hold the jump button to use your anchor as a helicopter blade. You can't fly, but you will get a little extra air time!
- Chomp! (requires level: 9): While sprinting, you will now chomp on enemies in your way. Enemies in range of your giant jaw will take massive damage and you will regain health for enemies you defeat.
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.
- Waterfall: Knock 25 enemies off the edge of the world.
- Extinguished: Defeat an evil Fire Minion.
Unique Quest
- Beached Whale: Defeat 8 enemies with one Belly Flop.
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.
- Extinguisher: Defeat 25 Fire Geargolems.
- A-Fish-Ionado: Catch 25 fish with the fishing rod.
Unique Quest
- Beached Whale: Defeat 8 enemies with one Belly Flop.
Quotes
Battle Cries
- "Hail to the Whale!"
- "Water ho!"
- "Heave ho!"
- "Drop anchor!"
- "Sea spin!"
- "Riptide!"
- "Whirlpool!"
- "Let's make some waves!"
- "Let's turn the tide!"
- "You're in the splash zone!"
- "Time to drop anchor!"
- "Make the wave!"
- "A sea of strength!" - when checking stats
- "Big and mighty numbers!" - when checking stats
- "An interesting look for me." - when given a hat
- "Not bad. I hope it fits my big head." - when given a hat
- "Not bad!" - when given a nickname
- "Sounds big. I like it!" - when given a nickname
Commercial Quotes
- "Uh-oh! We got company." Face Off commercial
- "Let's dance... Turtle!"
- "Yeesh. This is taking forever."
- "Hail to the Mail!" Easter Egg Hunt commercial
Character Trailers
Gallery
Trivia
- It is rumored that six fully grown Skylanders could fit inside Thumpback's mouth, not that they'd want to.[4]
- During Giants's early development, Thumpback's abilities/upgrades were differently named.[5]
- "Anchor Assault" was called "Short Range Chains." Its description said, "Use your mighty fists to solve problems!," suggesting that Thumpback originally attacked using standard punches.
- "Belly Flop" was called "Belly Slide," and allowed Thumpback to slide without any further upgrades.
- "A Whale of a Chomp" was replaced by an upgrade called "Long Range Chain," whose description says, "Unlock long range attacks on the button."
- "Slippery Belly" was replaced by an upgrade called "Short Range Combos."
- "The Whalest Chomp" was replaced by an upgrade called "Long Rango Combos" (likely a typo).
- "Now There's an Anchor!" was called "Anchor Upgrade."
- "Thumpback Combos" was replaced by an upgrade called "Whirlpool Ripper," which had the same effect as the combo finisher of the same name.
- "Bermuda Triangle" was replaced by an upgrade called "Anchor Kabobs," which allowed Thumpback to spear enemies on his anchor and reel them in close-range.
- "Ultimate Anchor" was replaced by an upgrade called "Whale Armor," which had the same effect as the final game's "Armor of the Sea."
- "Breakfast in Bed" was replaced by an upgrade called "Ground Punch Combos," which creating a damaging geyser as a short-range combo finisher.
- "Armor of the Sea" was replaced by an upgrade called "Spin Longer," which increased the duration of Thumpback's spinning combo.
- "Blowhard" was replaced by an upgrade called "Nom Nom Nom," which allowed Thumpback to eat enemies and regain health while belly sliding.
- According to an interview with Thumpback in the Skylanders: 2014 Annual, Thumpback states that the Leviathan Cloud Crab has a shell the size of a large house, and has claws that can cut a ship in two.
- In early development, Thumpback's chain attack came with water-spitting and ground-punching combos.[6]
- In the Nintendo 3DS version of Skylanders: Giants, Thumpback's anchor attack has a greater range, and it can pull enemies back to him, similar to Brawl and Chain's secondary attack.
- Thumpback is based on a Humpback Whale, but has teeth while humpback whales have long hair-like strips called baleen, which they use to filter out plankton in the water.
- Despite being a whale, Thumpback is tone deaf.[2]
- His Heroic Challenge "The King's Breech" is a pun on "The King's Speech".
- Thumpback and Wash Buckler are the only two Skylanders who were once part of a gang of pirates.
- They also had Lost Islands exclusive Alter Egos who don't appear in the Wishing Well.
- Thumpback, Ninjini, and Crusher are the only three Giants to have weapons that are not a part of their bodies.
- Thumpback's name is a combination of "Thump" and "Humpback".
- According to Lou Studdert, Thumpback was originally called Big Mouth Whale.[7]
- Some of his other prototype names include Whalen or simply Whale.[8]
- Thumpback was the only Skylander in Ring of Heroes who was not part of any Relationship team. This is due to the fact that he was released after the Relationship update.
- He is also the final Skylander to be included in Ring of Heroes before the game's closure was announced.
- Thumpback has a set of scratches near his right eye, which appear on his character model, toy figure, and upgrade pictures, but not in his Skylanders: Swap Force character portrait.
- Thumpback does not speak a victory quote after winning a PVP battle.
- Thumpback's character model is scaled down to fit in the character menus of Skylanders: SuperChargers and Skylanders: Imaginators, which makes him look smaller than some non-Giants.
- Although Thumpback can swim (like all Water Skylanders from Spyro's Adventure and Giants), his swimming abilities can only be seen in the water-based Heroic Challenges and the Pirate Seas adventure pack. While swimming, he can launch starfish, emit a blowhole blast, and perform an underwater chomp attack.
References
- ↑ Skylanders Swap Force - Paul Reiche Talks Bafta, Lasers, Light-sensors, Voice, GPS & Boomer. (Date Posted - Nov 23, 2012). YouTube.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Skylanders: Universe - The Complete Collection, page 190
- ↑ Skylanders: Universe - Official Sticker Book, page 18
- ↑ Skylanders Universe: Book of Elements - Fire and Water, page 50
- ↑ Skylanders Giants Alpha Build 1: Full Playthrough. (Date Posted: Jan. 28, 2024). YouTube.
- ↑ Skylanders Giants Alpha Build 1: Full Playthrough. (Date Posted: Jan. 28, 2024). YouTube.
- ↑ Skylanders 10 Year Anniversary - A Conversation with the Developers (Developer Stories!). (Date Posted - Oct 12, 2021). YouTube.
- ↑ Skylanders 10 Year Anniversary - A Conversation with the Developers (Developer Stories!). (Date Posted - Oct 20, 2022). Twitter.
