Let's continue our adventure in Skylands with our first female Skylander, Stealth Elf!
Another body type you'll see often is...well, "girl". You'll see what amounts to a fairly humanoid woman whose main concept is "action girl" a lot, though they do at least experiment well when it comes to posing. The originator is Stealth Elf, who got ascended from Extra to main character in the tv show as the girl of the main trio. Though that's disingenuous, Stealth Elf is one of the "Elite" Skylanders, which means she gets a new figure almost every game.
Let's see what her deal is!
[Image: Stealth Elf is a humanoid...elf, with green skin and elongated pointy ears. All her clothing is made of brown leather, including her fingerless gloves, boots, leggings, skirt, V-neck crop-top, and Ninja-esque facemask. She has golden straps fastened around her gloves and boots. Her shoes have a cleft, indicating that she only has two toes on each foot. She has raspberry blue hair in a single long braid that reaches her lower back. Her eyes glow a solid vibrant blue with no visible irises or pupils.]
Stealth Elf is very clearly not my type of concept, as I never cared for Elves in most capacities played straightforward like she is. Though making her a ninja is a fun twist, and I remember liking her a lot in the Netflix show. There's this episode involving Ninjini (I'll get to her when we reach Giants) and Stelfy that I remember the most from the series.
She's a very simple design, and her face mask helps sell her ninja aspects while not putting her into a fully black ninja outfit. This however does not mean she doesn't get one down the line.
As Elves are natural beings who love and guard nature, Stealth on the shelf is our first Life Elemental Skylander. Life is also another Neutral type, for characters whose designs don't really read enough like the other elements, but also lacks the fantastical elements needed to be a Magic type. She was found as a young child in an old tree by a ninja master who was also one of the many sentient tree-people in the Skylands. Which is kind of like finding a baby primate nestled within the corpse of one of your distant cousins.
With no memory of where she came from, the orphan elf was raised with the art of ninjutsu TMNT style until her skills surpassed her master's, so she went off to Eon's place to learn how to improve her Element specific abilities and hopes to find out her true origins during her travels.
Not sure what else to talk about her, since she's a fairly solid design even if she doesn't really hit any marks that make me, personally, a fan of hers. I don't dock points if something doesn't satisfy my personal preferences.
Since I have nothing else to talk about, why not share these hard as hell images from a Skylanders spin-off game posted by @yourlocaltoad.
Motto: "Silent but Deadly" - Yes this is a fart joke, even though it doesn't fit but at least it works with her being a ninja. Bet they regret not saving this for the Ninja Skunk man they make later. 2/5.
Stealth Elf gets Three Chompies. Not my thing, but I can't fault her for that.
Stealth Elf unfortunately did not get a horrific Party City Halloween costume. SAD.
So um Yeah, we've covered 1/4 of the original thirty-two Skylanders, now we gotta' talk about Double Trouble.
[Image: Double Trouble is a um, "Shaman" character. His face is actually a tiki mask, with a rectangular shape that extends his forehead to a higher position. His mask has canine-like teeth surrounded by a rectangular, carved in lips, alongside a carved unibrow. There are also five additional quadrilateral markings above his unibrow that almost resemble SpongeBob's eyelashes. You can see his lime green eyes through the mask. There are several feathers decorating the sides of the mask, alongside a grass-skirt with a leather...fanny pack maybe? Its latch is tied around a cartoonish bone, and you cannot see any legs under his skirt so that's a cool detail I guess. Anything not covered up by his "traditional" garments reveals that he has blue skin, with humanoid features. He wields a staff topped with a crystal, with metallic fixtures surrounding it, and with more feathers decorating it.]
So um, remember the Witch Doctor and Shaman monsters from the OG Scooby-Doo series? Kids franchises really loved those wooden masks!
Okay these masks are really cool, and they are a great representation of cultures - especially with how humans all have the same idea of using artificial faces to intimidate others or put on performances.
But like, this is...not good right? I can't really say the devs who designed this guy deserve a 1000 years of misfortune for not being all that culturally sensitive, but look at him.
Better yet, look at the fact that most of his in-game dialogue is just different iterations of Ooga Booga. No seriously.
I am not comfortable with this, like his species is apparently "Tiki Man"??? I feel like if you want something Tiki inspired that has no connection to the culture actually connected to that imagery, you could at least make up a new name for it? Video Games are a half-visual media, so the connection would be easy to make through design alone. Here it feels kinda lazy just to call something "Tiki [Blank]", like calling the stars and stripes a "Flag pattern" in a world where America doesn't even exist.
The Tiki stuff is just aesthetics by the way, there is no other cultural influence because it's very clear he's mostly based on African Shaman stereotypes.
His backstory is basically the same as the Zebra from My Little Pony, and his name comes from the fact that he ate a special plant that gave him the ability to create clones with his already expert magic. The first positive I can give this character is that I enjoy him getting along with his clones despite the fact that they're all tiny bombs mechanically.
It gets even weirder because one of his beta figure designs is just a normal elf-eared wizard with no Tiki elements. Perhaps it was deemed too similar to Eon, but with a few redesigns it could've worked. Even taking Chompy Wizard into account.
Motto: "Boom Shock-a-locka!" I did not like writing this review. 1/5.
One. He gets one. The Bone Chompy of Death.
Did I mention that I will not do a full creature design review of the original Scooby-Doo! Where are You roster of monsters for reasons this review makes apparent.
Now that we got the golden boy out of the way, we can get into the things that aren't Spyro! And believe it or not, that has more meaning in regard to this series than you'd think - but no spoilers! Let's start with the second Skylander ever introduced, if you bought the base game anyways, Gill Grunt!
[Image: Gill Grunt is a bipedal, humanoid creature with fish-like features similar to the Creature from the Black Lagoon aka Gillman! He has webbed feet and hands, and rounded scales on his limbs. He has blue skin and wears clothing that's a darker, Royal Blue color. Alongside some belts around his wrists, ankles, and waist, he wears something akin to a janitor's jumpsuit with the legs and sleeves cut off. He has wide fishy eyes with yellow sclera and orange irises, alongside fins on his head resembling ears and a mohawk. He lacks teeth, but his bottom jaw has two tusk-like jutting points coming from the bottom lip giving him a pseudo-underbite. He lacks a nose, only having nostril holes in the middle of his face.]
I genuinely cannot tell what this funny fish man is wearing, but I think I've seen anime schoolgirls wear the same thing to battle so he's clearly prepared for anything.
Gill Grunt here actually enlisted in the "gillmen army," but met a mermaid on one of his travels and fell in love. He promised to reunite with her after completing his service but found out that she was kidnapped by pirates after he left. He continues to search for her to this day, and works as a Skylander to combat pirates to prevent this from happening again to others.
Sources vary on whether or not he'll ever find her, or if he did after his many rendezvous with Spyro and his clique. Maybe she doesn't want to be found because she heard about his gillman war crimes.
As a fishman, Gill Grunt is our first Water Elemental Skylander, armed with both a hose gun and some sort of weirdly shaped trident launcher. He's a cute little guy, and he's definitely a good example of the other Water elementals. His story is especially interesting, though unfortunately we never get a fully fish-tailed mermaid as a core figure in the franchise despite how obvious I feel that should've been.
Heck, his story actually lends well to his girlfriend becoming a Skylander if he ever finds her while on Spyro's adventure, but I guess a few upcoming Skylanders fill the niche of singing Ningyo for the franchise. And as a retired war vet, he has enough seniority that he can actually recruit other Skylanders (specifically other Water elementals) on Eon and Spyro's behalf.
Alternates: Gill Grunt gets a slight redesign for Superchargers, now wearing golden armor with a helmet and water tanks on his back. He actually wields a real trident this time.
It's said that Gill Grunt loves singing, which is also what his girlfriend does, but his entire species is tone deaf. The book says it sounds like a jellyfish gargling on seaweed, so imagine that, because I sure can't.
Motto: "Fear the Fish!" - Yeah, a lot of these are just vague and absurd threats but sure Gill Grunt. The ocean is scary, so sound advice. 4/5
Nothing to write home about, but a solid little gill man.
Three Chompies out of Five.
Let's return to our regularly scheduled Skylanders Reviews with our next Fire Elemental, Ignitor!
[Image: Ignitor is a sentient ball of fire nestled within a squat suit of armor, the armor being a metallic blue with silver accents. His body is the armor more or less, which is mostly just a large helmet with the leg and arm pieces of the suit growing out of it. The helmet almost shares the same head shape as Optimus Prime. The top of the helmet is open, allowing tendrils of fire to flow out of it like hair or plumage. He wields a flaming serrated sword.]
Ignitor, formerly called Ignatius when he wasn't a sentient suit of armor, was once a regular knight of unknown species until a witch tricked him into wearing a supposedly "fire-proof" suit of armor to help him fight a dragon. Turns out, the armor was cursed, so the moment the dragon's fire touched him he was turned into a fire spirit. The cursed steel of his new shell bound his flaming spirit to the armor, leading to his current form.
He retains his personality, and now seeks out to find the witch who tricked him while working alongside the Skylanders. Cursed armor, sentient fire, and cursed armor filled with sentient fire are a classic fantasy trope that makes sense for this world so I'm glad to see it here.
His design is rather simple, but I like his funny proportions. One has to wonder if he became a head with limbs ala Modok before or after getting cursed. It's also nice to know that Ignatius took the curse in stride and never lost sight of who he was. Ignoring the potential spelling error in my reference guide, there's not much else to him. Besides it specifying how terrified he was of facing the dragon before the witch tricked him. Guess it's hard to read the fine print when you're shivering your timbers.
His simple design seemed to be his downfall, as he doesn't even have an exclusive skin for any of the mobile games. Which is a shame.
Motto: "Slash and Burn!" I mean, he does do that I guess. Pretty basic even if it's a threat he can carry through. 2/5.
3/5, a good entry that's been a bit forgotten. Carry on Sir Ignatius.
"While just an egg, Cynder was stolen by the henchmen of an evil dragon named Malefor and raised to do his bidding. For years, she spread fear throughout the land until she was defeated by Spyro the dragon and freed from the grip of Malefor. But dark powers still flow through her, and despite her desire to make amends for her past, most Skylanders try to keep a safe distance… just in case."
Read that bio alright? Yeah, that's basically all my knowledge on this character.
[Image: Cynder is a quadrupedal dragon with many similarities to Spyro, almost being the same shade of purple as him. She has magenta accents instead of mustard yellow ones, specifically for the webbing of her wings and her stomach plating. Her horns, wingtips, claws, and the tip of her tail are made of steel. She wears steel, spiked bands around her front legs/"wrists" and neck as well. The tip of her tail resembles the head of a spear, while her short horns go down the sides of her head - three on each side parallel to one another. She has a short snout, blue eyes, and magenta gecko-like patterns on her forehead.]
The Skylanders Netflix show gives her a few episodes of note, though she only has a slightly bigger role than Crash Bandicoot in the overarching story. Though Malefor, who's her dad I guess(??), is the one to tease Spyro's secret origins which we never got to see because the show ended on THAT as a cliffhanger.
Why did they make her neck so long in the show?
As for the game, she's an Undead Skylander purely because of her connection to evil. It's a bit odd, and I am honestly surprised Toys for Bob didn't pull a Pokémon when they got new elements later. Her dark evil powers seem to only center on electricity, called "Spectral Lightning". She can also call upon a ghost for allyship and burst forward as a shadow.
I feel like I'm missing a lot of history regarding this character, and would not be surprised if there was some hidden history regarding DeviantArt fandom groups and whatever ships you wanted to see her in.
Motto: "Volts and Lightning!" Okay??? 1/5.
3/5 Chompies. The Renamon of Spyro I guess? Tried not to let my lack of knowledge of Spyro canon conflict with the design itself, so I decided she and Spyro can share scores.
Oh, a Skylander I actually have good things to say about! Slam Bam is our second Water type Skylander, but in this case he's one that represents the Ice portion of the element.
[Image: Slam Bam is a muscular, humanoid yeti with icy blue skin and white fur. He has a wavy short beard and medium length hair on the top of his head. Slam Bam's face is a bit compressed, with large yellow eyes and a larger mouth full of sharp teeth. It's ears and nose are oddly small, however. Its digits are tipped with dark blue claws, and fur covers his legs from the waist down to the ankles. His most noteworthy feature are his four arms, all four of his wrists being covered in hair.]
Slam Bam tackles a specific species of monster, Yetis, and decides to give them two sets of arms to help him stand out. From his lore we know he spent most of his time isolated on a small patch of ice before Kaos destroyed it, leaving Slam Bam stranded on an iceberg before washing up on Eon's turf.
The reference book goes a little deeper into his bio, stating that his isolation was on purpose and that Kaos blew up his glacier to find out what the secret ingredient to Slam Bam's snow cones was. He also dislikes hot, spicy foods and is a frosty guy who takes time to warm up to others.
Slam Bam's alternates include this "Legendary" figure, with golden armor (and golden claws on his feet for some reason?) and a darker blue color to his whole body. In fact, he looks a little like Beast from the X-Men.
For his racecar design, he wears spiked armor like his legendary form but its made of ice - he also wears skiing goggles now.
Finally, we have a Surfer counterpart that's only available in a spin-off app game that gave several Skylanders gimmicky alternate skins. Here he's a Summer Yeti, with raw pink skin and pale blonde fur. He wears beach shorts, and has a lei slung over his body. He's now a surfer, his surfboard having the symbol for his element carved into it.
Motto: "Armed and Dangerous!" Pretty sure Doc Ock already used this. Classic pun though. 2/5
4/5, a cool yeti guy. I have one of his figures and to express his ice powers his figurine was made with semi-translucent blue plastic which looks cool.
ERUPTORRRRRRRR. For our first Fire Type Elemental, we get the classic lava rock monstertype. Another simple one, but I appreciate a straight-forward creature who'd be a one-off mook in a game's volcano level get the MC treatment for once.
[Image: Eruptor is a humanoid rock monster made of hardened lava, with several large cracks in his body revealing the magma under his "skin". He has an egg-shaped body with thick limbs that lack any real fingers or toes, his legs are simplified in the same way a cartoon elephant's limbs would be. His "hands" however, are rounded stumps where most of his lava pours out of. He has a human-like face without any eyebrows or a nose, and a mouthful of triangular teeth that shine like gold. He has a strong brow, and the top of his round head has small stalagmites growing out of it.]
Eruptor is a fun guy, I'd hang out with him even if there's a chance I'd evaporate within 2 feet of him. He's the guy friend to Spyro in the Skylanders MC trio, so he gets the boy main character traits that aren't reserved for the marketable dragon, mostly "anger issues" and the whole Grumpy Bear Schtick.
He represents his element in everything from his design to his personality, and I like him a lot. Again, this type of monster is reserved for reuseable mid-level enemies but he's a playable character in Skylanders. You'll see this a lot, especially for Undead Skylanders, where the art team incorporates every fantasy type available and chooses to include some more "villainous" tropes as the basis for good guys.
His entire species of lava elementals were created and housed in the core of a volcanic island in the sky. However, during a party an argument broke out causing a volcanic eruption, launching the entire civilization to the surface.
I like the detail in Imaginators that he finds small vermin like rats and bugs scary.
Superchargers saw fit to have this guy drive a car despite his lack of hands, but I like his alternative fit a lot. In fact, if I was judging his new design as its own thing, I'd probably would have given it five Chompies.
"Lava Lance Eruptor" actually wears clothes, because magic I guess, and sports a denim jacket and cerulean colored steel helmet. His right arm has become a lance made of sharpened lava, with a metal cuff around where a wrist would be. His stalagmites now form a pseudo-mohawk, piercing through his steel helmet in a way that makes it resemble those spiked biker helmets.
Eruptor is named after his ability to not only vomit a pool's-worth of lava, but his knack for getting mad easily. In fact, he mostly joined the Skylanders because he hates evil as a concept.
Random but, Lava monsters are funny right? Because in games like this they can't use it realistically, it'd be lame if Kaos turned into dust if you lightly brushed against him as Eruptor. But...he's still punching people with lava; he still produces some heat. That has got to be awful even considering cartoon logic.
Motto: "Born to Burn." - Not that interesting and pretty hard to say oddly enough. Mid. 2/5.
One of his moves is called Mega Magma Balls by the way.
Welcome back to Skylanders Review: Spyro's Adventure edition. We'll be tackling our first Air Elemental with Lightning Rod, a character I don't actually have much to say about!
[Image: Lightning Rod is something called a Storm Titan, Blue Skinned Humanoids who have an entire Nimbus/Cloud instead of legs. He has green eyes, a large broad nose, and Chesnut brown hair. He's most likely based on Greek/Roman Gods, especially those who wield Lightning Bolts as weapons like he does, and thus he has long, magnificent hair and a full flowing beard. He's wears nothing to avoid covering up his massive pecs and shredded abs, but he does wear spiked golden bands on his wrists.]
Lightning Rod here is actually a trope I really like, even if he's otherwise quite plain when it comes to the Skylanders roster. I just like the silhouette of characters whose entire lower body is made up of condensation. The nimbus, aka clouds that are more solid than you'd think, are just cool and it makes sense to include a character that uses them in the first batch of Air types.
LR here is not a god despite his design, as Storm Titans are just the species that occupy the Cloud Kingdom he came from. His lore states that he was a Hometown Celebrity and was celebrated with praise and statues in his image. However, he found this life unsatisfactory and was immediately intrigued when Spyro visited the kingdom and told his own tales of adventure. LR was hooked on the stories and followed Spyro to seek Eon's audience in the hopes of becoming a Skylander as well.
He's another character that's fallen to the wayside, only getting a few scant appearances in the several spin-off books for the games. Even his second figure was just a new sculpt that doesn't change anything besides how many bolts he has.
Oddly enough the Complete Collection book I use as a secondary reference has an entirely different backstory, stating that Lightning casually blasted away Kaos when the little guy tried to take over a sporting event. This impressed Eon enough to get Rod recruited.
I do like the small detail that he can be distracted with his own reflection.
Motto: "One Strike and You're Out." A good Motto, not only does it tie into his power set, but it also incorporates a brag since in baseball it takes Three strikes before you're out.
2/5 Chompies out of Five. I can't really justify giving him anymore, since compared to other Skylanders he's rather forgettable. That doesn't mean he isn't a necessary representation of his monster archetype. He avoids a 1 thanks to Pretty Privilege.
Genuinely wondered if the read more was necessary.
