Spyro the Dragon

Spyro the Dragon is a dragon from the Dragon Realms and is the main protagonist of his own series, Spyro the Dragon. He has also appeared in a few Crash Bandicoot games.

Background
As told in an interview with Sparx by the DNN (Dragon News Network), some details of Spyro's past are known. One example is of that Sparx used to crawl around Spyro's egg when he was a larva. There was peace in the Dragon Realms at this time.

However, unknown to the dragons, three thieves were running off with two eggs. One was a dragon egg while the other was a dragonfly egg. Suddenly, the dragons discovered that the thieves who ran off have dropped the eggs. The red/purple dragon egg became hot, as if something was on fire inside. Spyro then hatched from the red/purple egg and Sparx hatched from the yellow egg.

Relationship to Crash Games
The Spyro the Dragon series is considered the sister series to Crash Bandicoot and this relationship goes back many years. When the games first started being created, their developers (Naughty Dog and Insomniac) worked in close proximity to each other and employees often went to parties together and became close friends. This had an impact on their games. A demo for the first game in the Spyro series can be played in Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped by inputting a special code (similarly, a demo for Warped is accessible in the first Spyro game via the same method): up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, square. A demo for the second game in the Spyro series can be accessed in Crash Team Racing using the same method. Also, in Crash Bash, a demo of Spyro: Year of the Dragon is playable by holding L1 and R1 and pressing square then Start at the Universal Interactive Studios screen.

Spyro has made a few in-game appearances in the Crash series as well. He was an unlockable character in the Game Boy Advance version of Crash Nitro Kart where he was unlocked after beating Velo for the first time. He also starred in the set of crossover games, Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage and Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy, where he battles with Crash and his enemies. Most recently, he made a small cameo in a Crash Twinsanity cutscene, defending his gems from N. Tropy, N. Brio and N. Gin. On top of this, Crash himself has made various cameos in Spyro games, including The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning & The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night, as well as being referenced in Spyro: Year of the Dragon.

Both series also have similar histories. They began in the late 90's and were considered PlayStation's two unofficial mascots until they were abandoned by their original developers after three major games (although Naughty Dog also made a spin-off kart racer.) These companies then began making successful duo based PS2 games (Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank) and eventually focusing on more realistic and adult games for the PS3 (Uncharted and Resistance). After switching developers, Crash and Spyro both became 3rd party characters and appeared on multiple consoles. Their first few games with new developers did reasonably well although the quality gradually dropped over the years. Their original three games are considered by most to be their best.

Also, while technically not a Crash Bandicoot game, Spyro acts as one of the NPCs in the Skylanders: Imaginators adventure pack level based on the Crash Bandicoot franchise: Thumpin' Wumpa Island.

Trivia

 * Spyro is Insomniac's counterpart of Crash, who is Spyro's counterpart to Naughty Dog.
 * Like Crash himself, Spyro also had a different character design in Japan.
 * Spyro was voiced by Jess Harnell at one point. Crash was voiced by the same voice actor at around the same time.
 * In the GBA version of Crash Nitro Kart, Spyro races for N. Trance's team instead of Pura though he doesn't seem to be hypnotized.
 * Also in the same version, Spyro appears to be evil; this is evident as Uka Uka is his mascot. The reason for this is unknown.
 * He is the only dragon in the Crash series who acts as an ally to Crash.
 * Spyro was once Crash's enemy during the crossover before they teamed up. This was due to Spyro thinking that Crash was one of Ripto's minions and vice versa.
 * Skylanders: Imaginators marks the second time Spyro visits the Wumpa Islands.