Spyro is the titular main character and
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
of the ''
Spyro
''Spyro'' is a series of platform games which features the main protagonist Spyro, a dragon. Since the series' introduction in 1998 with the PlayStation game '' Spyro the Dragon'', there have been numerous sequels and a reboot trilogy. Origin ...
'' video game series, including ''
The Legend of Spyro'', and a guest character in the ''
Skylanders'' series, first appearing in ''
Spyro the Dragon'' in 1998.
Spyro is an energetic, young, male, purple
dragon. He is known for his ability to defeat enemies by breathing fire and charging at them, and his ability to
glide to otherwise unreachable areas in the game world. Spyro is often accompanied by his best friend Sparx, who is a
dragonfly
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...
.
Spyro was designed and created by
Charles Zembillas for
Insomniac Games
Insomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Burbank, California and a studio of PlayStation Studios. It was founded in 1994 by Ted Price as Xtreme Software, and was renamed Insomniac Games a year later. The company is mo ...
, the developers of the first three games in the series. The character has endured in popular culture as a mascot of the
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...
video game console alongside
Crash Bandicoot, having appeared in several games together with him. Both characters were owned by
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
, under the former video game division
Universal Interactive and have since become an intellectual property of
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...
, through the merger between Vivendi Universal Games and Activision to create
Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. It was founded in July 2008 through the merger of Activision, Inc. (the publicly traded parent company of Activision Publishing) and Vivendi ...
.
Development
After developing ''
Disruptor'', Insomniac president, Ted Price, contacted Zembillas to design a playable dragon character for a video game. Zembillas had previously designed Crash for
Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog, LLC (formerly JAM Software, Inc.) is an American First-party developer, first-party video game developer based in Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1984, the studio was acqu ...
, whose offices were just across the hall from Insomniac's at Universal Interactive Studios.
Spyro was originally named "Pete" and colored green during development, but the name was dropped to avoid infringing on the trademark ''
Pete's Dragon ''Pete's Dragon'' is the title of two Disney live-action films:
* ''Pete's Dragon'' (1977 film)
* ''Pete's Dragon'' (2016 film)
{{Short pages monitor