Skylanders Academy: New Horizon
is a Skylanders Academy Fan Sequel that follows the events of Season 3 while also incorporating more aspects of the game series the show is based on.
Just before Spyro and Master Eon are about to make their way to look for Spyro's family, the two get attacked by a pair of dragons, all under a spell similar to the one Strykore used to turn Spyro into Dark Spyro. With the arrival of a new opponent, the Skylanders are in for their toughest fight yet! One with a deep connection to Spyro and his past!
Skylanders Academy: New Horizon provides examples of:
- Agony Beam: The torture brand that Omen put on Cyrus allows him to inflict terrible pain on Cyrus at will. Cyrus describes it as such:
Do you remember, when you were a kid, and you had this… unnatural fear of the doctor's syringes? Do you remember how much it hurt? To have that little metal needle poke through your skin? How loud you screamed when it was just buried in you skin, not really doing anything at all except hurting you? I want you, to take that feeling, that surgically exact pain that you felt in one tiny spot on your arm, and I want you to picture that feeling spread across your whole body. Not a single inch left untouched. A perfect blanket of minuscule needles piercing your skin for minutes on end.
- Bad Boss: Omen constantly abuses and belittles Cyrus, and is a happy user of the torture brand, forcing Cyrus to endure awful pain for the most menial of infractions. This turns out to stem as a means to further control Cyrus, as him being miserable makes him much easier to control since a dragon's power is tied to their emotions.
- Bad Powers, Good People: What the Inferni are, especially Silver and Cyrus. Inferni have the ability to use Hellblaze breath, which can inflict painful burns on whom they touch. However, Silver became a hero among purple dragons, and she is the mother to both Spyro and Cyrus. While Cyrus had been raised by Omen to believe that his flames were a curse, it's ultimately him who puts down Omen for good with his gift.
- Bait the Dog: Discussed by Cyrus and Omen. Cyrus points out how Omen said he was proud of him for bringing six of the dragons he needed for the ritual to bring his whole body to Skylands, but Omen states that he only said that he was a good henchman, not that he was actually proud of him.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: The Knights of Solitude were placed under a perfected version of the spell that Strykore used to turn Spyro into Dark Spyro.
- Broken Bird: Cyrus proves to be this. Abused by Omen from a young age, he is unable to sleep, both as a result of the horrific nightmares he has and the pain that wracks his body as a result of the torture brand. When he comes to see that Spyro is actually his brother, and had a much happier life, he erupts violently, with his last words before losing consciousness being a broken "Why was I never given a chance to be happy?".
- But Now I Must Go: Cyrus still feels that he won't be forgiven for his actions while he served Omen, so he decides to go searching for his and Spyro's parents, feeling that if anyone could forgive him for what he's done, it'll be them. While he invites Spyro to come with him, Spyro rejects the offer, feeling he has to keep his responsibility as a Skylander, something Cyrus figured would happen. Cyrus does promise to send a postcard when he does find them, and Spyro assures his brother that if he ever wants to come back, Spyro will be waiting.
- Canon Immigrant:
- The true identity of the Knights of Solitude is the other six dragons from the first Skylanders game: Sunburn, Whirlwind, Camo, Bash, Zap, and Drobot. None of whom made any appearance in the cartoon.
- Additionally, Avril, Gallant, and Spooooky all make appearances here.
- When Cyrus fails to get Cynder as a dragon of the Undead element for Omen's ritual, he tries to settle on using Vathek from the Dragon's Peak Adventure Pack, who also didn't make an appearance in the show.
- Cooldown Hug: After revealing to Spyro just how badly he suffered under Omen for years, Cyrus is put into a very fragile state, crying and screaming for his brother to help him, so Spyro charges to Cyrus and gives him a hug, crying for him and promising not to hurt him.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Cyrus's Hellblaze breath turns out to be this. Green flames that leave painful burns definitely seems like a sinister ability, but he and the other Inferni are regarded as "those whom no evil could stand against", and his mother Silver was an Infernus who became a hero among dragons.
- Death by Adaptation: Ninjini is fatally electrocuted by Omen during the first fight of between him and the Skylanders, whereas no such thing happened to her in the canon series.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Malefor does not like the Skylanders, but despite the fact that his daughter Cynder joined them, Malefor still loves her, attempting to keep her the Underworld for her own protection and doing an Enemy Mine with the Skylanders during the final battle to get her back.
- Faux Affably Evil: Omen can be seemingly friendly and playful, even a bit silly, but all that hides is an abusive, sadistic monster, uncaring for his minions and enjoying the suffering of others.
- Foil: Spyro and Cyrus are this for each other in multiple ways.
- While Spyro is unafraid to work alongside his friends, Cyrus is more of a lone wolf, only working with others if ordered.
- While Spyro was raised with love and care by Master Eon to become a hero, Cyrus was abused and belittled by Omen to become a Tyke Bomb.
- Their powers also directly contrast each other. Spyro is an Adiaperst, whose main power is his incredible defense through his impenetrable scales, while Cyrus is an Infernus, whose flames are incredibly powerful and make him an offensive powerhouse.
- Hazy-Feel Turn: While it's never made clear where Malefor stands, he does allow Cynder to remain a Skylander, and the two make an attempt to rebuild their relationship.
- Hellfire: It's referred as Hellblaze and is the primary ability of Cyrus, but the same ideas still apply: the flames are green and tinged with black, and can inflict incredibly painful burns, even on Spyro's indestructible scales, needing the help of a Healing Elixir in order to recover. As it turns, it's not meant to be evil, as Cyrus is an Infernus, whose flames are meant to burn all evil.
- Hero Killer: Omen's proper debut has him fatally electrocuting Ninjini, and he gladly brings up her death to Stealth Elf as a means to break her resolve in the final fight.
- Life Drain: Cyrus has the ability to take the vitality of others as a means to heal himself.
- Mood-Swinger: Omen, fitting for him being a Psychopathic Manchild, can go from playful and friendly in one minute, but become an intimidating and abusive figure in another.
- Mythology Gag: More references are made to the game series here, while also having a few from the show as well.
- Gallant and Spooooky were enjoying pies before the Doom Raiders invaded their home, and this comes straight from the Darklight Crypt Adventure Pack, where ghosts found they enjoyed eating pies instead of brains, and the Undead only became hostile after Occulous banned pies in the Underworld.
- Chompy Mage also pulls out the staff he has in-game, and also releases acorns like he does as a Sensei.
- Omen also uses Kaos' insult of "The Original Angry Bird" to Jet-Vac from the show.
- Spyro and Cyrus are forced to work together against a Geargolem to get past a Battle Gate, both being from the game series.
- To heal Spyro from the burns inflicted from Hellblaze, the Skylanders have to get Healing Elixir from the Underworld. In the game series, the Healing Elixir was a magic item that came with the Darklight Crypt Adventure Pack, which similarly focused on the Undead and the Underworld.
- Oh, Crap!: Omen has this reaction when he sees that the Skylanders brought Ninjini with them, as he stops insulting them and is completely paralyzed. He immediately demands to know from Cyrus why one of the Giants is there with them.
- Original Character:
- Cyrus, the leader of the Knights of Solitude, and Spyro's long lost brother.
- Omen, a strange creature whose head resembles smoke with eyes locked in a Traptanium cage, with the rest of his body being made out of junk and red string.
- Enumat, a Cyclops warlord who gives Omen an army, while also wielding a giant warhammer made of crystal.
- Papa Wolf: Malefor is still shown to be incredibly protective of his daughter Cynder despite her joining his hated enemies in the Skylanders, and does an Enemy Mine with the Skylanders to get her back from Omen.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: Omen wants to get his entire body to Skylands, and he needs to perform a ritual to do so that involves sacrificing dragons of every element, and his choice are young dragons that he brainwashes into his loyal soldiers in the Knights of Solitude, alongside Spyro and Cynder.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Omen is shown to be incredibly childish, talking about a game he just played with Cyrus, but he is also very sadistic and power hungry.
- Ship Tease: There's a lot of this between Spyro and Cynder, and the story ends with them having a Big Damn Kiss while Spyro continues to try sorting out his feelings.
- Tyke Bomb: Cyrus was raised by Omen from a young age to be his main enforcer. Since this was done via horrific abuse and mistreatment, though, Cyrus has a number of issues, including an inability to sleep, constant fear of failure, and being quite emotionally unstable.
- Villain No Longer Idle: The final chapters have Omen directly getting involved after relying on Cyrus and the Knights of Solitude to do his dirty work, saying "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself".
- Villains Want Mercy: At the end of the fight, Omen pathetically attempts to have Cyrus spare his life, utterly terrified at his upcoming demise at the hands of the dragon he abused and manipulated.
- Would Hurt a Child: Omen definitely fits this. If trying to sacrifice eight young dragons doesn't count as this trope, then his attack on Skylands Academy with him brutalizing several younger Skylanders certainly counts, as does him placing a torture brand on Cyrus when he was young to warp him into his Tyke Bomb.
- The Worf Effect:
- The Doom Raiders have their collective ass thrashed by Cyrus as a showcase of his power.
- In a more tragic example, Ninjini, one of the greatest Skylanders, is fatally electrocuted by Omen as a means of showcasing how powerful he is.
