History VideoGame / Skylanders

* SurprisinglyCreepyMoment: Prism Break's [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily teeth]] are rather creepy, and given that from a distance he looks like he's completely toothless, they can be startling when you first get a good look at his [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111129183649/spyro/images/thumb/d/d6/PrismBreak_01.jpg/290px-PrismBreak_01.jpg character portrait]] -- especially if your first good look is his [[http://www.skylanders.com/sky/elements/earth/characters/prism-break page on the official website]], which shows the portrait in extreme close-up.

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: ''Imaginators'' gets... odd in a few places, most notably Fizzland and the [[spoiler: giant Guacamole Monster.]]

* ''VideoGame/SkylandersSuperChargers'' (2015; [=PS4=], [=PS3=], Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, [=iOS=]) - 18 characters, ten new and eight returning but completely overhauled from scratch, along with a matching vehicle for each character for a total of 36 toys. Kaos has a new superweapon warship and the Skylanders will need to be {{Badass Driver}}s to fight it - driving segments are in every level and while any Skylander can use any vehicle, pairing a vehicle with its designated driver will "Supercharge" it, giving better stats and a new appearance.

* ''VideoGame/SkylandersSuperChargers'' (2015; [=PS4=], [=PS3=], Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, tablets) - 18 characters, ten new and eight returning but completely overhauled from scratch, along with a matching vehicle for each character for a total of 36 toys. Kaos has a new superweapon warship and the Skylanders will need to be {{Badass Driver}}s to fight it - driving segments are in every level and while any Skylander can use any vehicle, pairing a vehicle with its designated driver will "Supercharge" it, giving better stats and a new appearance.

* ''VideoGame/SkylandersSpyrosAdventure'' (2011; PC, [=PS3=], Wii, Xbox 360, Wii U[[note]]Exclusive to Japan.[[/note]]) - The original, with 32 characters available. Kaos has assaulted the Skylanders' base; banishing them to Earth, turning their mentor Eon into a spirit, and destroying the Core of Light that keeps the Darkness at bay. It's up to the player to send the Skylanders back and gather the parts needed to rebuild the Core.
** ''Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure'' (3DS) - [[ReformulatedGame A different game with the same name]], more of a platformer than the console versions. A villain named Hektore is threatening a section of Skylands called the Radiant Isles, and the Skylanders have to stop him.

** ''Skylanders: [=SuperChargers=] Racing'' (Wii, 3DS) - A RacingGame spinoff. These versions, along with the Wii U version of the main game, introduce two {{Guest Fighter}}s to the series (complete with ''their'' own vehicles): Franchise/DonkeyKong and [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]], whose figures also work with Nintendo's own Toys/{{amiibo}} toy system (but not with non-Nintendo hardware).
* ''Skylanders: Imaginators'' (2016; [=PS4=], [=PS3=], Wii U, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox 360) - This entry brings CharacterCustomization to the series, with "Creation Crystal" toys allowing players to design their own Skylander from scratch. For regular toys, there are 31 Senseis that custom characters can learn special moves and earn weapons from: 20 all-new characters including {{Guest Fighter}}s [[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot Crash Bandicoot and Dr. Neo Cortex]], and 11 former villains from ''Trap Team'' receiving their own playable toys for the first time. Unfortunately, Kaos has gotten ahold of the character creation magic as well and is using it to make his own Doomlanders, [[AndThatsTerrible which is a problem]].

* ''Skylanders: [=SuperChargers=]'' (2015; [=PS4=], [=PS3=], Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, tablets) - 18 characters, ten new and eight returning but completely overhauled from scratch, along with a matching vehicle for each character for a total of 36 toys. Kaos has a new superweapon warship and the Skylanders will need to be {{Badass Driver}}s to fight it - driving segments are in every level and while any Skylander can use any vehicle, pairing a vehicle with its designated driver will "Supercharge" it, giving better stats and a new appearance.

* ''Skylanders: Trap Team'' (2014; [=PS4=], [=PS3=], Wii, Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, tablets) - 60 new toys (36 new characters (18 regular and 18 Trap Masters, the latter of which can break special Traptanium Crystals with their special weapons), 8 returnees, and 16 Mini characters). The new gimmick are traps that can capture certain bosses (40+ in all) in "Traptanium" crystals (''also'' sold separately and divided by element) in a {{Mons}} mechanic. It also introduces two new elements, Light and Dark. Kaos caused the plot ''this'' time by staging a breakout at the infamous Cloudcraker Prison, so the Trap Masters have to lead the Skylanders in recapturing them.

* ''Skylanders: Swap Force'' (2013; [=PS4=], [=PS3=], Wii, Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360) - 48 toys split evenly between 16 returning, 16 new regular characters, and 16 Swap Force characters with figures that split in two so they can exchange top and bottom halves, using the attacks of the former and special movement capabilities of the latter. In the game, these characters gained this ability after being blown apart by a magical volcano in the Cloudbreak Isles - which, of course, Kaos wants to control.

* ''Skylanders: Giants'' (2012; [=PS3=], Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360) - With a 40-character toy line, introducing new versions of 24 characters from the original and adding 16 more; of which eight are "Giants" that are at least double the size of the regular Skylanders and have the in-game strength to match. Storywise, the Giants were lost 10,000 years ago after fighting the Arkeyan war machines. Now, while the Giants have been discovered on Earth, Kaos has returned to the Skylands after his own banishment and seeks to claim the ancient Arkeyan army as his own.

* ''Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure'' (2011; PC, [=PS3=], Wii, Xbox 360, Wii U[[note]]Exclusive to Japan.[[/note]]) - The original, with 32 characters available. Kaos has assaulted the Skylanders' base; banishing them to Earth, turning their mentor Eon into a spirit, and destroying the Core of Light that keeps the Darkness at bay. It's up to the player to send the Skylanders back and gather the parts needed to rebuild the Core.

* BossBattle: There are several bosses to be fought, but a noticeable subversion occurs with Vathek in the console versions of Dragon's Peak in ''Spyro's Adventure'': As soon as he leaps down to fight you himself, Flavius sneaks in to grab the Dragon's throne behind him, and uses its power to turn Vathek to stone.

*** The ''Swap Force'' Dark Skylanders were caused by Kaos' attempt to [[VillainPossessedBystander evilize some of the Skylanders using Petrified Darkness]]. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard It worked against him]], though, [[ContinuityNod because Spyro just taught them what HE learned about how to control his dark side,]] leading to even stronger Skylanders going after him.[[note]]This is the backstory used for the ''{{SuperChargers}}'' and ''Imaginators'' Dark Editions. This is despite mentions of the {{SuperChargers}} being recruited between ''Trap Team'' and ''{{SuperChargers}}'', as well the villain Senseis being locked up in Cloudcracker Prison during the events of ''Swap Force'', meaning they’d be unable to be exposed to the substance while Kaos used it.[[/note]]

** Each series of [[DarkIsNotEvil Dark Skylanders]] has a separate explanation of their existence:

*** The ''Swap Force'' Dark Skylanders were caused by Kaos' attempt to [[VillainPossessedBystander evilize some of the Skylanders]]. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard It worked against him]], though, [[ContinuityNod because Spyro just taught them what HE learned about how to control his dark side,]] leading to even stronger Skylanders going after him.

* HundredPercentCompletion: Each level has a star objectives list that marks how much you've completed in a level. One star can only be earned by finding all the collectables in a single level. And most of these collectables are locked behind Elemental Gates that only a certain element of Skylanders can open.
** In Giants however, you don't need to buy any additional toys outside of one Giant for 100%, as all Spyro's Adventure characters can open the elemental gates perfectly fine.
** 100% completing Swap Force is absurd when you take all the side content into effect. The main story mode has objective stars as usual, but Bonus Missions, Survival Arenas, Time Attack, Score Mode, and all the accolades have more stars to earn.
** To 100% Trap Team, you can't just use any past Skylanders to open the element gates. Now only the Trap Masters can do so. And a fourth star was added to the level completion goals, which you can only see [[PostEndGameContent after rolling the credits]].

''Skylanders'' is a series of video games and spinoff materials launched by Creator/{{Activision}} in 2011. Part ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'' reboot ([[VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro another one]]), part brand new franchise, ''Skylanders'' took a [[ToysToLifeGame radical new approach]]: The games come with a device called a "portal," plus three toys. The idea is that if you want to play as a character, you put their toy on the portal and the game instantly switches to the new character. This can be done at any time, even in the middle of game play. With dozens of toys available, this does make this game MerchandiseDriven, but since the game comes with three toys already you don't have to buy more unless you want to (unless you want HundredPercentCompletion, but even then you only need one of each 'element').

The toy gimmick is given an in-story explanation. An evil Portal Master named Kaos banished the Skylanders into the real world as statues, and it's up to the player, taking on the role of a good Portal Master, to stop him by summoning Skylanders into the game.

The series was a smash hit with children thanks to its humor, top-notch voice actors, beautiful graphics and simple beat-'em-up gameplay. The toy gimmick drives the cost for the whole experience up (similar to Activision's deceased ''VideoGame/GuitarHero''), and while the more cynical may call this nothing but a cheap merchandising ploy, the idea was novel and well-executed, setting it apart from other video games (Well, until [[FollowTheLeader a bunch of other games started copying it, that is]]).

Spyro's toy is a CompositeCharacter with the move set of classic Spyro, backstory of the ''Legend'' Spyro, and a new design based on a scrapped adult version of himself. Fan favorite Cynder from the ''Legend'' series also returns as a playable toy, and Spyro's trusty dragonfly Sparx appears as a non-playable item toy. Malefor, the BigBad of the ''Legend'' series, [[GreaterScopeVillain appears in several characters' backstories]] and shows up in person in the tie-in comics. The last game in the series was in 2016, which began using [[GuestFighter pre-existing video game characters from franchises besides Spyro]] such as [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]], Franchise/DonkeyKong, [[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot Crash Bandicoot, and Dr. Cortex]].

Unfortunately, the series had been facing diminishing returns attributed to the oversaturation of the "toys to life" genre on the market, and there's been no mention of a continuation of the franchise since, save for a few spin-offs.

* ''Skylanders: Trap Team'' (2014; [=PS4=], [=PS3=], Wii, Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, tablets) - 60 new toys (36 new characters (18 regular and 18 Trap Masters, the latter of which can break special Traptanium Crystals), 8 returnees, and 16 Mini characters), and the new gimmick is Trap Masters that can capture certain enemies (40+ in all) in "Traptanium" crystals (''also'' sold separately and divided by element) in a {{Mons}} mechanic. It also introduces two new elements, Light and Dark. Kaos caused the plot ''this'' time by staging a breakout at the infamous Cloudcraker Prison, so the Trap Masters have to lead the Skylanders in recapturing them.

* ''Skylanders: [=SuperChargers=]'' (2015; [=PS4=], [=PS3=], Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, tablets) - 18 characters, ten new and eight returning but overhauled from scratch, along with a matching vehicle for each character for a total of 36 toys. Kaos has a new superweapon warship and the Skylanders will need to be {{Badass Driver}}s to fight it - driving segments are in every level and any Skylander can use any vehicle but pairing a vehicle with its designated driver will "Supercharge" it.

* ''Skylanders: Imaginators'' (2016; [=PS4=], [=PS3=], Wii U, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox 360) - This entry brings CharacterCustomization to the series, with "Creation Crystal" toys allowing players to design their own Skylander from scratch. For regular toys, there are 31 Senseis that custom characters can learn special moves and earn weapons from: 20 all-new characters including {{Guest Fighter}}s [[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot Crash Bandicoot and Dr. Cortex]], and 11 former villains receiving their own playable toys for the first time. Unfortunately, Kaos has gotten ahold of the character creation magic as well and is using it to make his own Doomlanders, [[AndThatsTerrible which is a problem]].

There are also a series of [[Literature/SkylandersTheMaskOfPower tie-in novels]] that serve as prequels to the first game and some comics set between games three and four that expand on the Skylanders as characters (whereas in-game, they can't really interact with the story at all since you can play as any character at any time).

* NeverShallTheSelvesMeet: This trope is Averted
** In Imgainators some of the veteran skylanders are now [=NPC=] characters and there are no special interactions when you interact with them as the same skylander.
** In Trap Team it is possible to do the trappable villain fights with the same villain that is in the fight.