Sgt. Byrd

Sgt. Byrd, also known as Sgt. James Byrd, is a flying penguin who first appeared as a playable character in Spyro: Year of the Dragon. He is native to his base in Midday Gardens, raised by hummingbirds (which is where he learned how to fly) and always carries his rocket launchers and wears an army helmet. Sgt. Byrd later became playable in Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs and Spyro: A Hero's Tail.
==Character Development==
Sgt. Byrd was created by Oliver Wade. During numerous revisions, he was originally designed to be a pig with a jetpack. However, it was Insomniac Games's Ted Price that urged him to make Sgt. Byrd a penguin. Oliver also mentioned that this was the only time he was not able to design whatever he wanted.Interview With Oliver Wade Take 2. (Date Posted - Mar. 17, 2010). darkSpyro - A Spyro the Dragon and Skylanders Fansite.
== Appearance ==
===Original Design (2000)===
In his debut game, Spyro: Year of the Dragon, Sgt. Byrd only partially resembled a proper penguin. Official artwork depicted him as an emperor penguin (albeit with dark blue feathers instead of black) with a grey, metallic army helmet, and a rocket launcher on each shoulder. His eyes in this artwork appeared very stern and serious.
In the actual game, however, he appears significantly different. He lacks the characteristic markings of an emperor penguin and instead has a light blue-grey belly. His eyes look somewhat dopey, and never blink, due to them being modeled onto his face as opposed to simply textured. Additionally, his feet and beak are closer in appearance to that of a duck than a penguin. His attire is oddly enough, much more reminiscent of the US Army, despite him being British. He wears an army green helmet with two downward-facing chevrons on the front. His launchers are attached to his shoulders by a harness which in-turn is connected to an army green utility belt.
In future games, Sgt. Byrd's in-game appearance would be modified to appear closer to the artwork presented. This wouldn't have a very adverse effect on his appearance until A Hero's Tail, where his artwork and in-game appearance were overhauled. 
===A Hero's Tail Design (2004)===
Sgt. Byrd appears much closer to that of an actual penguin. His utility belt is replaced by a simple belt strap. And his method of flight is now solidified as a jet pack. His missile launchers are now attached to said jet pack's wings instead of Byrd's shoulders.
===Reignited Design (2018)===
In the Reignited Trilogy, Sgt. Byrd's blue feathers are much darker, and his rocket launchers are shown on his back. His helmet has an Ace of Spades poker card.
==Personality==
Sgt. James Byrd is a spoof of James Bond and other secret agent archetypal characters from movies, books, and video games, right down to his introduction ("Byrd, James Byrd"). Byrd speaks with a British accent, like James Bond, and always carries rocket launchers; however, Sgt. Byrd prefers to conserve ammo for the right moment. The Year of the Dragon manual gives this as his introduction:
From this quote, we can also assume that Byrd was a weapons designer as well.
==Abilities==
Sgt. Byrd does not excel in melee combat, so he relies on his BAM Rocket Launchers. These are always mounted on his shoulders and can fire at the drop of a hat. From what Byrd said in his introduction in Year of the Dragon, he claims to have limited ammunition in his BAM Rocket Launchers but reveals he was merely saving his ammo to unleash payback against Moneybags once freed. When playing as Byrd in all three games, he appears to have infinite.
Sgt. Byrd also can pick up bombs and drop them. He can look down while holding a bomb for a precise hit. He can also pick up other items and drop them, for example, weights to a pressure-sensitive door.
At some point, he exchanged his weaponry for a Rocket Launcher Jetpack in Spyro: A Hero's Tail.
==Story==
===History===
Sgt. Byrd lived in the Forgotten Realms, more than likely in Sgt. Byrd's Base. As a child, he was adopted by hummingbirds, who raised him and taught him how to fly. Once he was of age, Byrd joined the Air Corps and rose to the rank of Sergeant. While leading an uprising against the Sorceress, Byrd was captured by the Sorceress while letting off fireworks in her fireworks factory and was then held prisoner by Moneybags. He could also be seen in the cutscene when Bianca turned a Rhynoc into Buzz.
===Spyro: Year of the Dragon===
After Spyro defeated Buzz, the balloon took him to Midday Gardens. In the centerpiece castle of the Homeworld, Spyro met Moneybags once again, who was holding Sgt. Byrd prisoner within a cage under orders of the Sorceress. Moneybags agreed to sell Sgt. Byrd to Spyro for a couple of hundred gems. When Moneybags released Sgt. Byrd, Byrd promptly fired on Moneybags with his BAM Rocket Launchers, sending the bear flying. When freed, he returned to his homeworld and assisted the hummingbirds who were kept captive. Byrd released the five hummingbirds from their captors and then cleared his base of Rhynocs. This was a crushing blow to the Sorceress's war machine, as Sgt. Byrd and his army of hummingbirds began to strike back at the Sorceress in full force.
After ridding his base of Rhynocs, Byrd went to Enchanted Towers, to free the denizens from the Sorceress's cruelty. Unfortunately, by the time he got there, Spyro had already taken care of the Rhynocs and the statue built of the Sorceress. Byrd then decided to patrol the Towers, in the event of a counterattack but took out the Flying Geckos in the process. Byrd also ended up collecting bones for a caveman of Skelos Badlands, so he could bring back his friend.
After ridding the Towers of Rhynocs and collecting the bones, Sgt. Byrd took a brief rest at the Tiki Lodge in Molten Crater. The vacation did not go as planned, however, as he was begged by a potential Tiki Lodge member to help him gather the heads of the other Tikis which had been scattered around the inside of the Lodge. Sgt. Byrd succeeded and was rewarded with two Dragon Eggs - One which was given to him (leftover from the Tiki Lodge party the night before) and another that was hidden in a wall (which, undoubtedly was also from the aforementioned party).
Upon return from the vacation, the hummingbirds had determined that the Sorceress was going to ambush Spyro as he was in transit between Midday Garden and Evening Lake. Sgt. Byrd went on a reconnaissance mission, along with several types of ammunition, and met Spyro before Spike could ambush him. Spike used his laser blaster to attack Spyro, but Byrd dropped ammunition from the sky for Spyro to use against Spike. Eventually, Spike was defeated by their combined force.
Finally, Byrd snuck away from the army to meet up with his fairy girlfriend, Isabelle, in Charmed Ridge. Unfortunately, when he had arrived, Cat Witches had attacked, and it was up to Sgt. Byrd to stop them. Eventually, they were subdued, and Byrd recovered another Dragon Egg.
Sgt. Byrd was later seen at the Fireworks Factory, after the initial defeat of the Sorceress. He put on a fireworks show for Hunter and Bianca, while Spyro watched in horror as "another noble warrior falls victim to love." Elora then joined Spyro, as they watched the show.
===Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly===
Although Sgt. Byrd didn't appear in the game, one of the balloons in the opening cutscene is shaped liked him.
===Spyro: A Hero's Tail===
As Red, Gnasty Gnorc, and Ineptune set into motion their plan to dominate the world, Sgt. Byrd returned to the call of duty, and formed a Band of Five with Blink the Mole, Hunter the Cheetah, Sparx the Dragonfly, and Spyro the Dragon. Byrd assisted Spyro in collecting the stolen Dragon Eggs and Light Gems that were hidden by Gnorcs in Speedways. It is unknown if the Air Corps were involved when Red terrorized the Dragon Kingdom, or if Sgt. Byrd did work on his own and cleared some of the realms of Gnorcs himself. In this game, it appears that he no longer relies on his wings because of his jet pack.
==Other Appearances==
===Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs===
Sgt. Byrd returned, and fought off the Rhynoc swarms once again, this time, serving as reconnaissance to save captured creatures. First, he saved penguins in his army captured by Rhynocs, then proceeded to rescue hostages and captured hummingbirds. After the three groups of hostages were saved, Sgt. Byrd continued to train his army at his Dragon Kingdom branch of the Air Corps.
It is unknown, however, if the Air Corps were involved in the counterattacks against Ripto's army of Rhynocs, or if Byrd attempted to face Ripto himself.
===Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy===
After Ripto was defeated and banished, the diminutive sorcerer teamed up with Dr. Neo Cortex, and threw the Dragon Castles and Wumpa Jungle into siege. Spyro and his friends responded to the attack, as they met with Crash Bandicoot and his gang as well. Sgt. Byrd held down the fort at the Arctic Cliffs, attacking Riptocs and Scientists, and giving Spyro advice and moral support. It was at this time that Byrd began to use his jet pack.
==Gallery==
::Main article: Sgt. Byrd/Gallery
==Trivia==
*Sgt. Byrd's section in Enchanted Towers is unique in that, rather than being a side area hosting a minigame or side mission, it instead returns to the same level, just with James in the place of Spyro, and the other side areas being sealed off. This is the only instance in the game where this phenomenon occurs.
*Sgt. Byrd has two slightly different models in Year of the Dragon. One of the models is the one that is used to play as Sgt. Byrd. However, a different one is used in the cage that he was captured in. This model doesn't have the belt worn by Sgt. Byrd when playing as him and has a helmet that resembles the one that he wears in A Hero's Tail. This model is leftover from the beta version of Year of the Dragon, originally Sgt. Byrd's in-game model was meant to resemble his render, however for unknown reasons Insomniac decided to change his design but didn't change his caged model due to time constraints, it wasn't fixed in the Greatest Hits version either, for some reason.
*If Spyro denies Moneybags' 700 gem payment in freeing Sgt. Byrd, Moneybags thinks that the penguin is "pining for the fjords", strongly implying that Sgt. Byrd will be dead sooner or later.
*It is hinted that Sgt. Byrd has fought in war, as he has mentioned his medals in Cloudy Domain as he gives you the Light Gem from Cloudy Speedway.
*Sgt. Byrd is the only playable bird in the original Spyro series.
* In Spyro: Year of the Dragon, when Sgt. Byrd is hit by an enemy AI, he makes a similar sound to the fodder in the Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! level Colossus.
*The name "James Byrd" is a reference to "James Bond," an MI6 agent from a series of movies and books by Ian Fleming. He also presents himself by saying, "My name is Bond, James Bond," much like how Sgt. Byrd says, "My name is Byrd, James Byrd."
*In Year of the Dragon, Sgt. Byrd refers to his shoulder-mounted artillery as DBX9 rocket launchers. This is a possible second reference to James Bond, as he famously drove a DB5 in the third film, Goldeneye. Ironically, while Aston Martin retired the DB name in the mid-70s, they revived it for the DB9 car, revealed three years after Year of the Dragon's release. James Bond would use a DBS, a car based on the DB9, in 2006's Casino Royale, the 21st Bond film.
*He is voiced by Tom Kenny, who also provides the voice of Spyro. This double-casting is carried over into A Hero's Tail, where he is voiced by Jess Harnell, who also voices Spyro in the game.
*A model of Sgt. Byrd is found in the game files of Spyro: Shadow Legacy, revealing that he was initially planned to be in the game.Spyro: Shadow Legacy. The Cutting Floor Room.
*When first freed in the Reignited Trilogy, a bugle can be heard playing in the background (as a nod towards his military background).
==References==
 
de:Sgt. James Byrd
Category:Characters
Category:Male Characters
Category:Playable Characters
Category:Spyro 2: Season of Flame
Category:Allies
Category:Spyro: A Hero's Tail
Category:Characters (Spyro: Year of the Dragon)
Category:Characters (Spyro: A Hero's Tail)
Category:Spyro Reignited Trilogy