darkSpyro

Here's the latest addition to my big document that attempts to work all three Spyro series - Original, Legend and Skylanders - into one big universe. This one focuses on Skylanders, since I didn't give it much attention in the last version (mainly because it hadn't been released at the time). I might edit this one again over time - if it turns out I messed something up.

The original "Analysis and Merger" document was posted in the General forum, but I decided to start another page here after it was suggested it might be better suited in the Fandom forum. It should be read first, as otherwise some sections might not make as much sense (some of it's out of date/incorrect, like the bit mistakenly stating Zap was an electricity dragon).
//forum.darkspyro.net/spyro/viewposts.php?topic=70035

1.6 SKYLANDERS REVISITED
First of all, let's go over what we know about the characters of Spyro - or Skyro, as he is occasionally called by fans to differentiate him from the previous two incarnations - as he appears in Skylanders. What is known about this new Spyro? Despite being a wholly new character, his backstory contains elements of both of the series that predate Skylanders.
Spyro is said to be from a line of rare purple dragons - as in the Legend of Spyro series - and is stated as having been a hero from a young age; having gone on many adventures as a result - alluding to the Original Spyro games. This work eventually caught the eye of Master Eon, who transported Spyro to the Skylands to get him to join the forces with the Skylanders. At some point following this, Spyro eventually defeated Cynder and freed her from the control of Malefor; the Undead Dragon King - a reference to the plot of the first game in the Legend of Spyro series.
So what do we make of this? Despite the many links this backstory creates with the previous two series, "Skyro" cannot really be thought of as the same dragon from either of those series without creating massive inconsistencies across games - in addition to this, the backstory states he's one of many purple dragons, which should rule both of the other two out. However, as I suggested previously, he can be thought of as a descendant of both dragons. To properly reconcile the earlier two series with Skylanders, some more information needs to be looked at.

1.61 APPEARANCES
Let's first consider the physical appearance of Spyro and Cynder; specifically, how they differ from designs in the previous two series. It's worth noting that countless characters have had their appearances changed between games, for example; the appearances of the Elders from the earlier Spyro games are drastically revamped for Spyro: A Hero's Tail, and perhaps somewhat infamously, Spyro and Cynder change in many ways between The Eternal Night and Dawn of the Dragon; Cynder even changing colours slightly - although this is often thought of as being the cause of bad lighting. Basically, this sort of change is nothing new, and the altered appearance of the dragon characters in Skylanders could be seen as being a minor retcon; an extension of the changes that come with graphical advances across games.
Alternatively, it could be the result of evolution. In my original essay, I suggested the possibility that the five dragon types described in the first Spyro game - Artisans, Peace Keepers, Magic Crafters, Beast Makers and Dream Weavers - were "breeds" that had evolved following the shift from the Forgotten Realms; although it's worth noting that the "breeds" could have existed prior to the shift, made up of dragons who adjusted to certain areas of the world over time.
In any case, Spyro and Cynder's appearances could be explained as them being an entirely new breed that developed in another area of the world over time. Interestingly, one of the background stories for Skylanders states that Spyro lived in Summer Forest in Avalar before coming to the Skylands; as mentioned in my previous essay, no dragons dwelled in Avalar during the Original Series. Thus, it could be that the Spyro of the original series eventually settled down there at some point, and started a line of dragons that would eventually evolve over time into these new dragons.
It's also worth noting that their changed appearance could potentially be the result of interspecial breeding. In the original series, two dragons; Spyro himself and Ember, are shown as potentially beginning relationships with non-dragons; Spyro with Elora the Faun and Ember with Bandit the Armadillo. In the former case, Spyro reportedly "missed his chance" with Elora, but Ember and Bandit remained committed to one another during the events of Shadow Legacy. At no point do the games or the characters within them suggest that an interspecies relationship such as this should be impossible, although it should be clear to anybody that physically this shouldn't be possible, at least when considering having children.
So how would this barrier be passed? Simple; with fairy magic. As mentioned in the previous essay, fairies aid in bringing new dragon eggs to the Dragon Realms. Although I suggested that this role was merely for show - without a need for reproduction dragons would lack genders - it could be that in some cases a fairy uses magic to create a child for two lovers of different species. In fact, Skylanders itself confirms that some sort of action along these lines must occur, as the character Whirlwind is said to be an air dragon with unicorn ancestry. As such, it could be that Spyro and Cynder's distinct look in Skylanders is the result of their ancestors being made up of both dragons from the Dragon Realms and other creatures from Avalar - the fact that the other Skylander dragons also share this look suggests they share a link with the Dragon Realms, but that will be discussed in the next section.
It should also be noted that Spyro and Cynder are still juvenile dragons; we don't know whether their appearances will change over time to something resembling the dragons of old - certainly the adult dragon Ramses bears a closer resemblance to the dragons of the previous two series - or whether they could even gain the ability to walk on their hind legs, as in the original series - something that was only ever done by the adult dragon characters, suggesting the skill was something that either developed with age or was only possible when the body was a certain size, shape or weight.

1.62 MALEFOR AND THE SKYLANDS
Next, let's discuss the character Malefor, because due to his role in Spyro and Cynder's stories in Skylanders, he is central to bridging the gap between the different series.
In the Legend of Spyro series, he was said to be the first of the purple dragons - although he disputed this fact - and eventually fell from grace; seeking to destroy the world - the exact reasons for this remain unknown, but, as suggested in my previous essay, it could be that he wished to destroy the world so that it could be cleansed and rebuilt - but failed to do so; instead becoming imprisoned in two places; in the realm known as Convexity, and in the Well of Souls. Although he was eventually freed from this prison over the course of the Legend of Spyro series, at the conclusion he was trapped in a crystal in the centre of the world by a number of dragon spirits.
In Skylanders, Malefor is said to be the "Undead Dragon King". It can easily be suggested that this is the same Malefor, many, many, years after his defeat. As stated by Ignitus' shade shortly after the defeat of Malefor, "when a dragon dies, he does not truly leave this world. His spirit lives on, binding itself with nature, offering hope for the future."
Despite the nature of his defeat, it would seem this applies to Malefor as well; although he remains confined to the centre of the world - as confirmed in Hex's backstory - evidently his influence is strong enough to impact the world, as he clearly has been able to manifest himself in a way that allowed him to raise a new army and corrupt another dragonet following his imprisonment.
What of his title as "Undead Dragon King"? This could have originated in many different ways; whether he gave himself the title or whether it was bestowed upon him is not known. Hints to its origins hinge on the phrasing of the word; whether Malefor is the King of Undead Dragons, which would imply a more mythical position - perhaps if, as the title suggests, the "Legend of Spyro" became a story that was passed down through the generations, and Malefor became equated with a boogeyman or demon - or if he is an Undead Dragon who calls himself King; certainly, Malefor had the power to turn the apes into shades in the final Legend of Spyro game, and the Cynder of Skylanders gained undead powers after being corrupted by him. The latter is probably the more likely -these powers perhaps being linked to his new mode of imprisonment, or it could just be that his old powers aren't much use below ground - considering how Hex is said to have become undead after travelling to his "underworld" - the existence of which suggests that Malefor has some degree of power below ground, but not above, and thus he focuses on forming an army out of the dead and buried creatures that would make it down to his level.
The next question surrounding his title is when did it become widespread? If it didn't come into use during the length of time he attempted to conquer the Skylands in, this would suggest that Malefor attempted to conquer the Dragon Realms yet again inbetween the Legend of Spyro series and the Skylanders series. This could potentially suggest a link to the Sorceror of the original Spyro series; another purple dragon who attempted global conquest. Unfortunately, his exact backstory and motivations were never made clear due to the end of the original Spyro series after Spyro: Shadow Legacy, but it could be suggested that he was either Malefor in a new body, or another dragon under Malefor's control - although this could seem somewhat odd, considering Red was also under the Sorceror's control; unless of course this was an intentional part of the plan.
Before discussing Malefor's plans for conquest, let's bring Cynder into the mix. Like her previous incarnation in the Legend of Spyro, Malefor needs her to act as his avatar in the world, as he cannot manifest physically - in addition to this, it's worth remembering that Cynder accomplished much for Malefor while she was under his control. It's not made clear why he chose a dragonet both times, but it could be that he was intending to capture Spyro's egg both times round, but ended up with the wrong egg each time. Alternatively, a dragonet could be easier to influence than an adult dragon.
What of the name Cynder? Rather than being a massive - and unlikely - coincidence, it's likely that Malefor intentionally chose the name again for one of many reasons;

*Malefor was attempting to spite the memory of the deceased Spyro and Cynder - or perhaps even the Legend itself - by naming the hatchling after the original Cynder.
*Malefor was amused by the captured hatchling's resemblance to the original Cynder - or perhaps the similar circumstances of her capture - and decided to bestow the same name upon her.
*The name Cynder held some unknown significance to Malefor, and thus he gave that name to the captured hatchling.

Confusingly, Cynder appears to be purple, yet isn't considered a purple dragon; instead having electric and undead powers - the latter of which is easily recognisable as being a leftover of Malefor's hold over her, although it's also noted by a few sources that Cynder may in fact be physically undead herself in addition to controlling the element. The Cynder in the Legend of Spyro series also oddly gained scales of a vaguely purple colouring in the final game, despite having been previously coloured black. This could potentially suggest that the purple colouring of their scales wasn't their original colour; like the powers that remained after Malefor's control ended, the purple colouring was a remnant of his control over her.
This could potentially suggest that the Cynder of Skylanders was originally an electricity dragon prior to her capture, and the Cynder of the Legend of Spyro series an Air or Wind Dragon. While such species of dragons weren't necessarily shown in the Legend of Spyro series, Whirlwind and the other dragons of the Skylands suggest that other elemental species did exist, but weren't represented amongst the Guardians for some reason; perhaps their Elemental Guardian was dead by the time Spyro arrived at the Dragon Temple, or perhaps their species simply wasn't known or well integrated into the Dragon Realms of the time.
To return to Malefor's plans for conquest, from what is mentioned in the backstories, it appears as though he ignored the Dragon Realms in favour of an attack on the Skylands. It's not too hard to imagine why; Malefor could have simply desired to see them destroyed alongside the Dragon Realms so that they could both be restored, but it could also be that he saw the Skylanders as a potential threat to his plans, and sought to destroy them first. Of course, we know that he also attempted and failed to capture Hex to learn or use her powers, but whether this was before or after his abduction of Cynder isn't known; if it preceded it, Malefor might have planned to corrupt Hex to take over the Skylands, and resorted to kidnapping a dragon egg after failing, but if it was afterwards, Hex might have been responsible for stopping Malefor's plans after Spyro freed Cynder. Either way, it doesn't seem Malefor got very far in his plans, unless of course there is a second part to his plan that hasn't been carried out yet.

AFTERWORD
On a final note (mainly because this bit was too long for the last post), I acknowledge that some of these theories are slightly slightly far-fetched, but I have strived to come up with the best theories I could think of due to the very fact that unity in such way can satisfy the fans of each series; with this turn of events, each incarnation of Spyro and the games that he appeared in remain somewhat distanced from each other by enough time that they don't necessarily have to affect each other. Annoyed at one game in the series "ruining the (fill-name-here) Spyro"? With this, it doesn't matter; it's a different Spyro in a different era of time.
In addition to this, it supports multiple character pairings at the same time. SpyroxCynder fan? Happened for Spyro in the Legend of Spyro era. SpyroxEmber/Elora fan? Could've happened for Spyro in the Original era. And who knows what Skylanders will add to the mix?
In the end, it's the fans who are going to be expanding on whatever the series gives them; isn't it better to be united as one fandom than to constantly be bickering about which characters should be canon or paired with others or not?