Glumshanks (Skylanders Academy)

Glumshanks is the secondary antagonist of the Skylanders spin-off television series, Skylanders Academy. He is Kaos's servant.
==Background==
===Personality===
Unlike his game counterpart, Glumshanks is mostly carefree about his predictament with Kaos, with the exception of an anxiety disorder. When his master is not looking, he always tries to keep up a conversation with other people around him, and greatly enjoys sharing stories, doing his hobbies and having relaxing activities. Even while in servitude, Glumshanks appears to be uninterested about the conflict between Kaos and the Skylanders, only helping in evil plans for as long as necessary. He calls the stage his "first love", and even after leaving theater work he still enjoys acting.
Also unlike the game canon, Glumshanks isn't pure of heart. The butler can use Kaos' plans and disguises for personal gain or that of his acquaintances without hesitating, and has mentioned that he'll go as far as to use violence if his cuisine is stolen.
When temporarily freed from taking care of Kaos in Season 2, Glumshanks used every opportunity avaliable to share his knowledge with fellow college students, not noticing how his drawn out speeches had little substance and interested nobody. However, until he was expelled by Kaos, he ignored the unpopularity with pride.
===Biography===
Glumshanks, Kaos' loyal troll-servant, attends to his evil master’s every crazy whim: cooking his meals, cleaning his lair, and helping him with target practice... by being the target. And you thought your boss was tough! Even though Glumshanks is the brains of this duo’s dastardly operation, he never takes the credit and goes out of his way to keep Kaos from meeting his doom. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it.
===Abilities===
Despite having no magical or physical abilities, Glumshanks makes acquantances easily and a lot of stories to tell, allowing him to keep a friendly conversation even with his supppsed enemies. He also knows a lot about cooking and appears to have connections to a lot of people unrelated to the villains or the Skylanders. Like his master, something as simple as a beard disguise is infallible even near people who should recognize the troll.
Like other Trolls in the show, Glumshanks is a great source of Life elemental energy, which grants him high regenerative abilities.
==Story==
===History===
Sometime before meeting and being hired by Kaossandra, Glumshanks worked in a theater. Despite enjoying his job, community projects involving Shakespeare works and being put in the same roles repeatedly eventually caused him too much frustration.
===Season 1===
By the time the show starts, Glumshanks has been Kaos' minion for some time, listening to his every plan and having to attend to every torture session. In the first episode, he accompanied his master as the sorcerer tried to steal the Book of Skylanders, helping him survey the battlefield and later shielding him from Bad Breath's attacks. Much to his dismay, he was given an icicle containing Master Eon's beard to lick after Kaos froze the team of heroes using ice magic on the Book, but it would later be proven useful as it allowed them inside the Relics Room.
While helping Kaos with trying to steal as many riches from the room as possible, they were stopped by Spyro, who defrosted the book and freed the other Skylanders. They quickly caught to the villains even after they dispatched the purple dragon, and were promptly thrown out of Skylanders Academy into a field of angered Sheep.
In My Way or the Sky Way, Glumshanks is "taken away" by Kaossandra when she threatened to throw Kaos out of the Guest Castle if he doesn't get a job. It is later revealed to be a ruse, as they tried to get him out of the house for a day to catch up with small talk and have tea. Though Kaos came back early and almost saw through the facade, the two quickly pretended that Glumshanks was being used as a chair as Kaossandra insulted his theatric achievements, and the other sorcerer went back to his usual treatment of the troll soon after.
In Missing Links, seeing Kaos' distress as he lost his astral records of the map to the Core of Light, Glumshanks took him to the Villains' Retreat Oasis Spa in an attempt to reduce his stress. The relaxation techniques, unfortunately, only gave the sorcerer more unrest, and he forced Glumshanks to update his documents at the Skylands DMV as punishment. Seeing the troll's suffering restored Kaos' mental state, though he decided to keep his torture going rather than acting on his plan to destroy the Core.
In Dream Girls, Kaossandra ordered Glumshanks offscreen to keep his master from leaving the room, as he is wanted by the Skylanders after telling them he was looking for the map to the Core of Light. His attempts to distract Kaos are to no avail, however, as he eventually falls asleep from boredom and his boss starts breaking down the door in the meantime. Against his will, Glumshanks is taken to Skylanders Academy for both of them to enact Kaos' plan, only for their portal to take them to the Academy classroom in the middle of Stealth Elf's SED talk. Frustrated with Kaos' recklessness, the troll begs for them to be arrested without a fight, and the Skylanders comply.
In The Hole Truth, he, Kaos and Dreamcatcher are taken to Cloudcracker Prison, where they meet the Doom Raiders. Fully knowing his boss would be manipulated by the Golden Queen and would ignore advice, the troll occupied himself with teaching other inmates cook with the little quality food the prison had. Offscreen, however, another inmate stole his prune gelato, but before the troll could take out his frustration on him, Kaos called him through the sewer pipes during his escape and the Glumshanks followed against his will.
After the villains' escape, Glumshanks is the first to return to the Guest Castle, but despite his attempts to stop the Doom Raiders from hiding on it, Wolfgang distracted him by talking about instruments. During Space Invaders, the troll spent time to talk with the villains, but upon seeing Kaos' abuse at their hands, he suggested him to assert himself as the owner of the room by using pack mentality on Wolfgang. Unknown to him, Stealth Elf saved Kaos from a beating when he screwed up his attempts to show strength, but when she escaped with him to the Academy, the troll followed suit. After she was freed from his mind, Glumshanks rescued Kaos and they returned to the castle to find an apologetic Wolfgang; however, when Kaos used poor insults to stand his ground, the troll could only express his frustration as the sorcerer got kicked around by the werewolf.
In Anger Mismanagement, Glumshanks helped Kaos and Chef Pepper Jack hide and enact an evil plan in Uncle Merle's by working as a waiter. Though he didn't notice the Skylanders in black costumes at first, Eruptor's outburst at their soup appetizers ruined the disguise, and the heroes were unable to stop him from warning the other villains.
In Pop Rocks, Kaos and Glumshanks were meant to assist Wolfgang in his plan to hypnotize the crowd of the Skylands Music Festival, but were left behind when Wolfgang's bone harp accidentally reversed its hypnotizing effects on the concert's bouncer, Ka-Boom. Though at first they stayed in the line, Food Fight and Trigger Happy noticed the troll's fake beard and took a liking to him, giving him a spare ticket to the show as a gift. Going in without Kaos, Glumshanks started acting like a young hipster to keep up appearances, and despite his nonsensical poems, his acquaintances thought of him as profound.
In Beard Science, Glumshanks helped Kaos get properly waxed and ready for his supposed date with the Golden Queen, fully knowing she probably had other things planned for the sorcerer. When the date turned out to be a mocking session, the troll was busier with a botched cloth order for an upcoming Bar-Mitzvah while his master sought out a spell to gain the best hair in Skylands, but before he could absentmindedly suggest actual hair treatment, Kaos unleashed the spell.
In the next morning, Glumshanks was surprised not only by the new hair - actually, Master Eon's stolen beard - but also by Kaos' entirely changed mood, as the sorcerer complimented his work and treated him better by the second. Grateful, the troll gave his best in cooking for him, the Golden Queen and Kaossandra as Kaos gained their attention, and in return Kaos offered him time off to finish his degree. However, the good mood was short lived, as in the next day, during a picnic courtesy of Glumshanks for the two engaged villains, they encountered Master Eon and the wizard regained his beard after a heated battle. Though the three attempted to ambush the wizard, he escaped with a spell, and Glumshanks had to serve the picnic to a frustrated Golden Queen as she lost interest in Kaos.
In The Skylands Are Falling!, Glumshanks attempted to sell off various valued objects in a swap-meet at the Skylander Games entrance, but before he could convince Ka-Boom to make a purchase, he was called by Kaos to the top of the main stairway, while the Trap Master destroyed the item by accident. There, the sorcerer showed him his newest acquisition, a crystal lens that could predict the future; and though Glumshanks guessed he would use it to predict the Skylanders' movements and win against them, Kaos was more interested in trying to gain the Golden Queen's favor. Still ignoring his butler's suggestion, the sorcerer enchanted the lens with dark magic to annoy the Skylanders unsucessfully, and passed it to Glumshanks to get rid of it, though not before throwing a tantrum over wanting a churro. Frustrated by his master, Glumshanks returned to his stand at the swap-meet and immediately gave the lens to Pop Fizz, who used it to build the villain seeking Evil-Scope.
Days later, Glumshanks attempted to encourage Kaos to get out of bed as the Evil-Scope caused villains all over Skylands to be captured without fail, but the sorcerer had no motivation left to do evil as the Skylanders could get the drop on him before he had the chance to enjoy it. Eventually, the imbalance of good and evil culminated in a mass of darkness that created a maelstrom all over Skylands, and with a possible impending apocalypse, Glumshanks decided to finish his list of things to do before his demise: flying a kite and telling Kaos his true opinions about the job. Though the kite was quickly destroyed by the storm, Glumshanks had ample time to yell obscenities and rants at the sorcerer while he celebrated the end of the world; until disaster was averted by Spyro elsewhere. Unfortunately, despite his dancing and celebrating, Kaos had heard every word from the troll, and now that the Skylands was safe from destruction, he already had an excuse for the next torture session.
===Season 2===
In Elementary, My Dear Eruptor, Glumshanks first appeared in the college class taught by Eruptor. Later, when Broccoli Guy wanted to go after the troll to consume his Life energy and find out about Kaossandra's castle, Kaos and Eruptor want to go after him. Kaos had no clue where to find him but Eruptor, having seen him in class before, took Kaos with him to Campus Town, where Glumshanks was. Broccoli Guy intended on executing his fiendish plan, but Kaos and Eruptor got in between them before any real harm was done. Glumshanks even expressed some gratitude for Kaos coming to his aid.
==Relationships==
===Kaos===
Kaos mistreats Glumshanks at every opportunity, but with few exceptions Glumshanks only shows his displeasure in expressions and never questions orders unless he has a better idea himself. He tends to Kaos' every need even if he refuses help, and is at his side whenever possible to keep him out of major trouble.
In The Skylands Are Falling!, Glumshanks reveals that he holds a lot of grudges and harsh words against his master, and uses the incoming apocalypse to voice them freely, though later disaster was averted and he had to sit through the punishment for speaking up. In Assault on Skylander Academy, Kaos' increased powers proved to be too much for Glumshanks to keep on check with simple distractions and subtle orders, but as the sorcerer was barred out of the house, it is unknown if their dynamic will stay the same.
In Season 2, Glumshanks seems to enjoy his time away from Kaos, even taking an opportunity to roast him when he can, but when he later gets his job back as Kaos' servant, he reluctantly accepts this. When Kaos suspects Glumshanks might be his father, he seems to respect the troll more, not wanting to hurt him. Glumshanks, in return, seemingly willingly accepts his role as a parental figure, though he knows that it's impossible for Kaos to be his son. When it's revealed that the two aren't related at all, their dynamic returns more to how it used to be.
===Kaossandra===
Despite his humiliating job, Glumshanks holds Kaossandra in high regard, and the two respect each other even if he lacks any power of his own. She appears to admire his stories and will gladly find excuses to get him out of the guest castle so they can have a conversation over tea and food.
==Gallery==
::Glumshanks (Skylanders Academy)/Gallery
==Trivia==
*At points, Kaos calls him by the nickname of "Glum-dog", possibly as a reference to hip hop culture.
*Possibly because of the abuse from Kaos, Glumshanks takes anxiety medication.
*Glumshanks' fake beard in Pop Rocks is the same pattern and colors as the beards on Troll Welders.
*In the pilot, Glumshanks uses an opening while he isn't needed to tell stories to Snap Shot, fully knowing he wouldn't be able to respond as he was frozen over.
*In the games, Glumshanks is right-handed, while he's shown to be left-handed in the series. This either makes him ambidextrous, or just left-handed in Skylanders Academy canon.
*At several points, Glumshanks talks about a Troll massagist named Olaf. According to him, though the other troll has great ability, he "has no sense of personal space" and "gets a little too handsy for my taste", and in Missing Links, specifically asks the other trolls in a spa house to avoid calling him, much to their surprise. This is one of the several adult references in the show.
**Another recurring character Glumshanks repeatedly talks about is Andre, a friend of his that calls him frequently. First mentioned in Anger Mismanagement, Andre tries to get a reservation in Uncle Merle's night restaurant through his connection with the troll, and he begrudgingly accepts it despite the risk to his job. They also discuss movies over the phone.
*Despite the frequent torture sessions from Kaos, Glumshanks' regenerative abilities are most likely the reason he never sustains any injuries for long.
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Category:Skylanders Academy
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Category:Male Characters