Dark Spyro (Skylanders Academy)

Dark Spyro is the evil counterpart of Spyro created after Strykore consumed Spyro's light energy, corrupting him into this dark state. He made his debut in the Season 2 finale of Skylanders Academy, before becoming a main character in Season 3.
==Background==
===Personality===
Dark Spyro, as his name suggests, is the pure evil counterpart of Spyro; the complete opposite of the hero's goodness and heroism. While Spyro fights for the Skylands, Dark Spyro seeks to help take over it with his master, Strykore. He is ruthless, maniacal, devious and couldn't care less about his friends; a real jerk who enjoys lying and manipulating those he once loved and cared.Skylanders Academy season 3: Jason Ritter teases what "real jerk" Dark Spyro is up to. (Date Posted - Sep 28, 2018). MEAWW.
While working as a double agent at Skylanders Academy, Dark Spyro puts on a false friendly facade to avoid suspicion. He is shown to be easily irritated if something doesn’t turn out the way he planned or if he is pestered by Team Spyro or other characters. Being pure evil, working with the Skylanders is considered "torture" to him. Over the course of being a spy at Academy, Dark Spyro grows to see the rest of Team Spyro as friends and became hesitant in wanting to help Strykore; a sign that his good counterpart (regular Spyro) is still left within him. However once Strykore forces the darkness in Dark Spyro to take over him again, Dark Spyro reverted back to his pure evil nature, but briefly regained his fondness for his friends before completely succumbing to the side of evil.
===Abilities===
Being fueled with darkness, Dark Spyro can breathe and manipulate dark fire, and even channel dark electrical energy through his horns. With his dark powers, he can also control technology, including SuperCharger vehicles.
===Biography===
This season, purple is the new evil. The only thing more powerful than Spyro, one of the most heroic, capable, and popular Skylanders ever, is one powered purely by darkness. And that spells trouble for the rest of the Skylands! With orders from his dark master to infiltrate the Academy as an undercover spy, Dark Spyro will stop at nothing to succeed in this catastrophic plan - and he’s going to do it all right under his best friends’ noses! New powers, a new look, and a new mission, this is one fire-breathing flying dragon you don’t want to make angry. You won’t like him when he’s angry.
==Story==
===Season 2===
Dark Spyro was born shortly after Strykore robbed Spyro of his light energy in Touch of Evil. The dark dragon initially possessed an urge to take up two parking spaces at once before proclaiming to Strykore that the Skylanders are now his enemies.
===Season 3===
After getting situated at Kaossandra's Castle in Power Struggle, Dark Spyro was called to Strykore to go over the wizard’s master plan to destroy the Core of Light. To find the location of the Iron Fist of Arkus, an item powerful enough to crush the Core of Light, Dark Spyro and Kaos were sent to capture King Pen, the only one who knew the location to the Lost Island of Arkus. They were able to capture the penguin Sensei and brought him back to Kaossandra's Castle.
Using his power over darkness, Dark Spyro was able to easily interrogate King Pen into revealing the existence of the Map to Arkus, which was stationed somewhere at Skylanders Academy. Strykore then enlisted Dark Spyro to infiltrate the Academy as an undercover spy to find the map to Arkus, all the while gaining back the trust of the Skylanders that his dark appearance was a result of his battle with Malefor. The dark dragon slipped away to start his mission before Team Spyro arrived to rescue King Pen. Afterwards, he finally met with the Skylanders, Master Eon and Kaossandra at Skylanders Academy, posing as their old friend Spyro.
After convincing the Skylanders that he was still the normal Spyro, Dark Spyro began his mission to find and steal the Map to Arkus in The Truth is in Here. While at the Team Spyro Home, he discovered that his dark powers allow him to control technology, allowing him to conjure up a plan to influence Master Eon into telling the truth where the Map to Arkus is by programming Eon's phone to brainwash him. However, Dark Spyro accidentally brainwashed the entire Academy except Master Eon, causing discord among the Skylanders and cadets who couldn't stop telling the truth and began fighting amongst themselves.
When the affected inhabitants directed their anger towards Dark Spyro, he instinctively released a surge of lightning that cured everyone from the brainwashing. Master Eon commended Dark Spyro for his help in stopping the truth-telling fiasco, something Eon suspected to be the work of Strykore. When Dark Spyro tried to return Eon's phone back after fixing it to secretly brainwash him, Eon refused and decided to go retro by getting an old fashioned phone.
When Team Spyro was set to investigate an island explosion in Sky Hard, Dark Spyro chose to stay behind and had Ka-Boom as his substitute, doing so in order to secretly search the Academy alone for the Map to Arkus. He snuck into the Relics Room only to wind up in the middle of an argument between Master Eon and Kaossandra about Kaos. Dark Spyro then got the idea of using hypnotherapy on the two wizards in an attempt to settle their disagreements. In reality, the dragon planned to use their hypnotic state by commanding them to reveal the Map to Arkus. However after successfully hypnotizing Eon and Kaossandra, both were unable to bring him the exact item, frustrating Dark Spyro.
After being shown dozens of inaccurate items, Dark Spyro relented and dismissed Kaossandra to sleep with her hypnosis wearing off when she awakened. Dark Spyro prodded Master Eon one last time for the map, and finally, Eon understood his request. Despite King Pen's ancestry of other Senseis not bestowing Eon the information of the location of the map, Master Eon strongly believed that the map would likely be hidden in the Academy's secret vault, where passage is only granted if his favorite nursery rhyme, Little Miss Muffet, is recited. Before Eon can proceed with the rhyme, Dark Spyro accidentally says the word “sheep", one of the trigger words, and hypnotized Eon into acting like a sheep. Eventually Kaossandra and Master Eon reverted to normal as their hypnosis wore off, but have no memory of what happened, with Dark Spyro keeping silent when Team Spyro returned.
In A Traitor Among Us, Eon's heightened beard sense detected a mole working for Strykore in the Academy. Dark Spyro became nervous at the thought of being discovered but he managed to input doubt among Team Spyro by leaving their various items in each others' rooms, causing them to accuse each other as the mole. While this was happening, Dark Spyro managed to infiltrate the cavot but discovered that it was only a hidden beard barbershop for Master Eon. Aggravated, he left the room, but while landing on the grimoir of the Relics Room, he discovered that the map was locked inside a mysterious box called the Wumpan Puzzle Box, an item he found earlier. After that, Dark Spyro was relieved when Eon revealed that the mole was actually a mole that had infiltrated the barbershop.
To tackle Kaos and his pirate crew of Doom Raiders, Master Eon enlisted Captain Flynn's help in In Like Flynn, though Dark Spyro still feigned convalesce to stay at Skylander Academy in order to continue his mission for Strykore. In his room, he was contacted by Strykore and informed his master about the mysterious Wumpan Puzzle Box and Flynn's involvement. Stryoke then enlisted Dark Spyro to join the Skylanders' mission to obtain information from Flynn on the Wumpa Islands, convincing the Skylanders that he was okay to travel. Finding nothing useful in the captain's cabin, Dark Spyro directly asked Flynn who absentmindedly admitted that the Wumpa Island is in another dimension and that the road to get there is in his logbook.
While Dark Spyro was attempting to get to the logbook during the journey, it unfortunately was shredded by Fisticuffs's sawblade arm in Team Spyro's attempts to engage the villain. He and the Skylanders became trapped in a holographic cage set up by Fisticuffs, but were freed by Flynn. After saving Pop Fizz who had fallen during the storm and was almost sacrificed to a volcano by a tribe of primitive Greebles, Dark Spyro and the Skylanders returned to the Academy and Stealth Elf pointed out Dark Spyro's strange behavior but the dragon managed to dissuade her. Knowing Stealth Elf's suspicions would become a problem in his mission, Dark Spyro persuaded the Skylanders, Eon and Flynn to have Stealth Elf leave with Flynn to Dragon's Peak to refuel the ship. Dark Spyro bidded her farewell, secretly relieved to temporarily halt Stealth Elf's suspicions on him from going any further.
In Weekend at Eon's, an accidental mishap caused Master Eon to get knocked out on the day of the Academy inspection. Dark Spyro and Jet-Vac were chosen to enter Eon's body to control him and help pass the inspection without drawing suspicion. However during this, Dark Spyro attempted to use Eon's magic to open the Wumpan Puzzle Box. After passing the inspection, with Dark Spyro's behavior causing problems along the way, Golden Queen wrecked havoc in a nearby town and quickly defeated Pop Fizz and Eruptor. In order to get destroy Golen Queen's inpenetrable forcefield, Jet-Vac planned on using Master Eon's dissolving spell that can get rid of any substance. Dark Spyro secretly plotted to use said spell on the Wumpan Puzzle Box to open it, but learned that there was only one attempt at the dissolving spell since it drains Master Eon. When Eruptor was about to be turned into a golden statue, Dark Spyro hesitated between opening the Puzzle Box or saving his friend, ultimately choosing the latter of saving Eruptor and defeat Golden Queen. It was this experience that Dark Spyro began to warm up to the Skylanders.
In Road Rage, Dark Spyro was reprimanded by Strykore for not yet having found the Map to Arkus. To test his loyalty, the evil wizard ordered Dark Spyro to put Stealth Elf on the side of evil by enchanting her elven bracelet with a spell that will slowly devour her light. While Stealth Elf prepared for a mission with Kaossandra, Dark Spyro secretly casted the spell on Elf's bracelet but Kaossandra puts on the bracelet instead without his knowledge. Afterwards, Dark Spyro felt remorseful to the point of talking to himself about what he did to Stealth Elf, having now considered her his best friend. Eventually he goes to find Stealth Elf and Kaossandra, saving Elf from a crazed Kaossandra influenced by the evil in the enchanted bracelet. Stealth Elf asked him what he was doing there and Dark Spyro claimed to have just gone out to get some fresh air. He then received a hug from Stealth Elf who thanked him and tells him that she can always count on him.
In Three Sides to Every Story, Dark Spyro was one of three prime suspects, the other two being Stealth Elf and Eruptor, on the disappearance and supposed demise of Master Eon. During the investigation, Stealth Elf suspected Dark Spyro to be the culprit, but he defended by telling his side of the story. In the end, it was revealed that Master Eon had only gone to the lake. Stealth Elf apologized for suspecting Spyro, who does not blame her. When Team Spyro, Hugo and Eon left the library, Dark Spyro returned to the area alone and rewatched the recording of him sweeping the halls, which soon revealed footage of him talking with Strykore that the others haven't seen. He then destroyed the recording containing the evidence that would have compromised him, although Dark Spyro appeared remorseful for doing so.
After not being able to open the Wumpan Puzzle Box yet, Dark Spyro became fustrated but he turned excited when he went to see Eruptor who lamented that he couldn't finish his presentation on Wumpa Island. Dark Spyro encouraged Eruptor about the idea of going back in time using Jet-Vac's device to see Crash Bandicoot to help the lava monster with his presentation, though Dark Spyro secretly planned to ask the bandicoot about how to the Wumpan Puzzle Box. As soon as they arrive in the timezone when Team Spyro was helping Crash Bandicoot get home, Dark Spyro and Eruptor accidentally returned to the present with Crash Bandcioot, creating a timeline in which Glumshanks assumed power. Seeking another time remote control because theirs no longer had power, the two Skylanders and Crash journeyed to Kaossandra's Castle, now serving as a haven for Glumshanks.
Crash told Dark Spyro that he knew nothing about the Wumpan Puzzle Box, much to th dragon's disappointment. Inside the castle, the trio encountered the alternative Kaos who served Glumshanks but also wanted to overthrow him. They retrieve the remote but Eruptor refused to go back to the present leaving the alternate Skylanders petrified at the mercy of Glumshanks. However they become captured by the evil troll until Kaos assisted them and defeated Glumshanks and his henchmen. The now freed Skylanders thanked Dark Spyro and Eruptor for saving them, especially the alternate Stealth Elf who appreciated them for being always there for her. During the trip, Dark Spyro learned from the other Kaos that to open the Wumpan Puzzle Box, he would have to be "true of heart".
Upon arriving home in Off to the Races, Dark Spyro happily greeted each of Team Spyro as he has grown to be a fellow Skylander despite being evil. Strykore, having lost almost all his patience, appeared again and warned Dark Spyro that if he does not open the Wumpan Puzzle Box, the dragon would regret it bitterly. Afterwards, the Skylanders (accompanied by Flynn) go to an airship race in order to capture Kaos who was participating in the competition to earn enough money to avoid the mutiny of his Doom Raider crew. In the captain's cabin, Dark Spyro attempted to open the Wumpan Puzzle Box when the ship fell into the void because of a magic shockwave.
As he fell, Dark Spyro settled a disagreement between Stealth Elf and Eruptor while restoring motivation to his friends (but it's hard to know if he was true of heart or if he was still trying to open the box) which allows them to recover. Another breakdown occured and Dark Spyro was flying to get the screwdriver in the cabin, but before he can leave, Strykore reappeared and was outraged to see Dark Spyro helping the Skylanders. When Strykore asked Dark Spyro if he wanted to rule the Skylands and destroy the Skylanders, the young dragon remembered all the good memories he had with his friends and finally admitted that he no longer wanted them destroyed and that the Skylands are big enough for everyone, which Strykore dismissed as failure. Dark Spyro attempted to reason with his master further, but Stealth Elf walked in on their conversation, finally discovering Dark Spyro's allegiance with Strykore.
Dark Spyro tried to change Elf's mind, confessing that he's changed, but this proved Strykore was right about him. Despite being heartbroken by his best friend's revelation, Stealth Elf goes off to tell the others of Dark Spyro's treachery. Strykore ordered Dark Spyro to prevent her from doing so, but he refused. In response, Strykore "tightened by leash" by forcibly enhancing Dark Spyro's evil nature. Before Stealth Elf can warn everyone, Dark Spyro seized Stealth Elf and carried her out of earshot, erupting into a battle. The evil dragon then gained the upper hand by painfully imprisoning Stealth Elf with his electrical powers. While she was losing consciousness, Dark Spyro regained his senses and couldn't bring himself to kill her. He released Stealth Elf and was about to throw the Wumpan Puzzle Box overboard, having had enough of Strykore, when the box itself opened up, sensing Dark Spyro's sincere act of sparing Stealth Elf's life.
The Map to Arkus was now in his grasp, but Kaos appeared and took the Map away to give it to Strykore. Before Dark Spyro could pursue Kaos, Stealth Elf regained consciousness and subdued Dark Spyro, knocking him back onto the deck of the ship. Defeated and barely conscious, Dark Spyro could do nothing when Stealth Elf revealed to rest of Team Spyro that their dragon friend was Strykore's spy all along, much to their shock.
In Split, Dark Spyro was returned to Skylander Academy, restrained to his bed and having succumbed completely to his evil personality. He struggled furiously as the other Skylanders tried to bring their friend Spyro back to his senses with no avail. Team Spyro then embarked on a mission to retrieve fire viper venom that was needed for a serum to cure Spyro of his darkness. After acquiring the venom, the Skylanders prepared to give Dark Spyro the serum. The evil dragon then expressed his intense displeasure in working with the Skylanders and was eager to see them all bow down to Strykore. Dark Spyro was forcefed the serum in response, and was then returned to his normal form: Spyro. However as a side effect, the evil Dark Spyro was separated from his good counterpart as a physical separate entity.
The two Spyros began their fight, and to protect his friends, Spyro took Dark Spyro to the skies outside the Academy where they resumed battling to the bitter end. Dark Spyro ended up gaining the upper hand thanks to his power over darkness and claimed that he would always win because he was pure evil. Spyro, encouraged by all of his friends, stood up to Dark Spyro proclaiming that it was because Dark Spyro was evil that he will lose. Enraged by Spyro's optimistic spirit, Dark Spyro decided to deal with the finishing blow; he unleashed a huge purple flamethrower with Spyro counteracting this by unleashing his own flamethrower. When both of their flames clashed, a massive discharge erupted and the two dragons were engulfed in the explosion. When the smoke cleared, Spyro survived the aftermath unscathed while Dark Spyro is supposedly destroyed.
==Relationships==
===Spyro===
Dark Spyro sees his good counterpart as his "weaker self". He wanted to destroy Spyro, claiming that there can only be one Spyro.
===Strykore===
Dark Spyro sees Strykore as his master and willing serves him, wanting to see all of Skylands bow down before Strykore. However because of his cockiness, they are frequently at odds when he accidentally over steps boundaries or tries to dismiss his master's concerns. When Dark Spyro softened up from spending time with the Skylanders, he became unwilling to follow Strykore's orders and tried to reason with the evil wizard that they and the Skylanders can coexist to no avail.
After Strykore enhanced the evil back into Dark Spyro, the dragon regained his full loyalty to Strykore, yelling at Team Spyro and Master Eon who restrained him that he wants to see them all bow down before Strykore.
===Kaos===
The son of Kaossandra is more of an annoyance to Dark Spyro than an ally.
===Stealth Elf===
At first, Dark Spyro wanted nothing to do with Stealth Elf and would be quick to dismiss any suspicion she held for him. However over the course of working with the Skylanders, he grows to see Stealth Elf as his best friend like his regular counterpart, discovering that, despite his evil nature, he couldn't bring himself to kill her. When he gained a physical form in Split after being separated from Spyro, Dark Spyro was left without any goodness left in him and was fully willing to destroy Stealth Elf along with the other Skylanders.
==Gallery==
::Main article: Dark Spyro (Skylanders Academy)/Gallery
==Trivia==
*Dark Spyro combines aspects of his original incarnation from The Legend of Spyro and his canon counterpart:
**His appearance is (nearly) the same as his canon counterpart.
**Like his original incarnation from the console version of The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, he speaks with a more sinister voice; but, unlike in that instance, instead of speaking in a darker version of his normal voice, his voice (actor) changes completely.
***His new voice actor is Jason Ritter, who is best known for voicing Dipper Pines from Gravity Falls.
*His voice actor change in this form was made with the intent to sell a Spyro with a similar appearance and personality, but with an uncanny feeling that it's not quite the same person.Skylanders Academy Season 3 Adventures Teased by New Showrunners. (Date Posted - Aug 22, 2018). Collider.
*While normal Spyro's eyes are regular-sized on most occasions depending on his emotions, as a separate entity Dark Spyro's eyes are smaller as an indication of his evil, maniacal nature.
*Dark Spyro’s relationship with Spyro is similar to Shadow the Hedgehog’s relationship with Sonic the Hedgehog in Sonic Boom, even though Shadow believes that Sonic is weak and Shadow only cares about revenge on whoever he despises.
==References==
Category:Skylanders Academy characters
Category:Dragons
Category:Purple Dragons
Category:Male Characters
Category:Article stubs
Category:Deceased Characters