Spyro the Dragon is a successful video game franchise about a young purple dragon who saves the others dragons (and world, in some games) from being an ice sculpture; saves eggs from weird fast blue ninjas; saves everyone from various weird tiki statue things... you get it. Spyro saves everyone. There are multiple games of Spyro that spread over a variety of gaming systems. Each one has the same theme: fight the bad guys, save the good guys and the innocent. In this article, I am going to discuss the three main Spyro Series and get down to this whole "canon" thing. But first, for those who do not know what "canon" is, it is basically the start. The one who started it all. The main guy. The protagonist. The beginning. The truth. The real guy. The origin. The, "where the story begins."
First of all, here is a quick little background history of Spyro:
I provided a link just so I wouldn't have to repeat every single thing that the article already says. Moving on.
Spyro the Dragon
Spyro the Dragon: Ripto's Rage
Spyro the Dragon: Year of the Dragon
The above games are the very first three games to be released. They were to be played on the Playstation. This is OG Spyro. The original games. The basic, "Spyro fights the bad guys and saves the good guys." Very simple. You run around on different levels in different worlds and defeat the bad guys, free people, collect gems, and try not to fall off cliffs because, no, this dragon can't fly, he can just glide.
There is no serious backstory or history of Spyro in these. He is just a young purple dragon. Typical bad guys, typical boss fights, typical ANNOYING LEVELS THAT SHOULDN'T EVEN EXIST *cough* Tree-Tops *cough*. Fun games, though. I love them.
The first game you collect gems; beat levels to get to the boss level at the end.
The second game has mini games within the major focus game. To the left here, we have the infamous "Trouble with the Trolley" bird. This mini game wasn't hard, it just had sensitive controls. In the Reignited Trilogy, however, it is much better than what it was. Still a little annoying, though.
The third game, you play as Spyro, but you also switch off between other characters like a yeti, a penguin, a monkey, and a kangaroo. Each character has their own special setup in their "world" where you can defeat foes using their own special abilities.
The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
Here we are at the greatest trilogy of games, in my most humble opinion. The "Legend of-" series. Here is where everyone starts to freak out a little. So, if you read the wiki article I posted above, you will see that Spyro went from one company to another. So, to save a little reading and typing here: THIS SERIES IS NOT A CONTINUATION OF THE ORIGINAL "SPYRO THE DRAGON" GAMES. These are a whole new take on Spyro.
So, in these games, we get a whole story and background history of the entire dragon world. We learn about Ignitus and the other guardian dragons. We learn what happened to Spyro, where he came from, and how he met Sparx. We learn that purple dragons hold special powers and that the new major Boss, Malefor, is a purple dragon that used his extra powers for evil, and that he wanted Spyro dead so that he wouldn't "take over.". Basically, according to Malefor as we learn in the third game, "Dawn of the Dragon," purple dragons are just evil and are born that way.
Anyways, there is a ton of detail involving the "Legend of-" trilogy. I will be making a video that will be posted on my YouTube channel (The Organized Hoarder) that will go into much more detail than this blog post.
These games are my absolute favorite games. They just have this different feel to them. They are definitely a lot harder and more challenging than the original trilogy. These also all fit together in the way that they are like a movie. If you watched the "Legend of-" cutscenes, it is a mini movie. Yes, the voice acting is terrible despite Spyro being Elijah Wood, but it's a game. Just deal with it.
My personal favorite game is 100% the third one, "Dawn of the Dragon." This is the first and only Spyro game that is multi-player. You play as Spyro and Cynder, the once evil black dragon that was a puppet for Malefor until Spyro saved her. I always play as Cynder because she has the coolest powers. But anyways, the two dragons in the final game make their way up to Malefor in his floating rock castle to fight him. They win, but just barely. If you haven't played at least this one game, I would highly recommend playing it.
And then...
Skylanders happened.
I honestly don't know how many games there are or what they are even called. I just know that this series, as I said before, IS NOT A CONTINUATION OF THE OTHER GAME SERIES OR THE SERIES BEFORE IT. It is just the new generation Spyro, just as the "Legend of-" series was. This series was aimed towards the younger groups. You can see some similarities with Skylanders and how the "Dawn of the Dragon" game ended, but there is no direct connection. Spyro is part of an academy of heroes and this that and the other. There is even a television series where Cynder is introduced. In that, she is a princess of darkness but wants to be a hero, not a villian- see, NO CONNECTIONS.
Alright, alright. So what's with this whole "canon" thing? Some people say the original Spyro trilogy is the "canon" Spyro. Some say it is the "Legend of-" Spyro because we get a history and story. Some say it is Skylanders because we see his childhood.
Answer: NONE OF THEM ARE CANON!!! The "Spyro the Dragon" series is the original. The "Legend of-" series is a reboot. The Skylanders is a reboot. The "Ignited Trilogy" is just the digitally enhanced remake of the first three games. There is no "canon" Spyro. Each Spyro is part of its own world. Its own game. None of the games are connected to each other outside of their home trilogy. "Spyro the Dragon" is the OG Spyro because it was the first Spyro game series. That's it. Even that Spyro is not "canon" because that would indicate that the next Spyro games are connected, which they are not. There is no "canon" Spyro.
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I hope you enjoyed this post and learned something about my obsession with Spyro. Seriously though, go play "Dawn of the Dragon." Stay tuned for a YouTube video on my channel "The Organized Hoarder" that goes into more detail of the games.
Thanks for reading!
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