Ripto

"Very clever, dragon. You know you should join me. We would make a great team."

- Ripto

Ripto is the main antagonist and recurring villain of the Spyro franchise, beginning with Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!. He is a grumpy and short, orange Riptoc sorcerer with a horn on his forehead, and he wears a purple cape. There are various minions who work for Ripto throughout his appearances, although his two most loyal minions are Crush and Gulp, who cooperate with Ripto in most of his appearances. Ripto has a hatred toward dragons, but the reason for this is never explained.

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!
In Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, Hunter accidentally brings Ripto into Avalar through a portal. Ripto announces that he will take over Avalar because there are no dragons. Ripto starts out carrying a powerful magical staff, but loses it early when Gulp swallows it by mistake. Every time Spyro first enters a realm, Ripto takes over its castle and replaces the flags with ones showing his face.

Ripto has since remained relatively defenseless for most of Spyro's adventure. He only regains his true strength late into the adventure after he steals Avalar's greatest gateway crystal to create a new magic staff for himself. At Winter Tundra, Spyro manages to enter Ripto's Arena, where he engages in the final battle against Ripto. Spyro manages to defeat Ripto using his superflame powerup.

Spyro: Year of the Dragon
Ripto makes a minor appearance in Spyro: Year of the Dragon. In the epilogue, Ripto and Gnasty Gnorc hold a summit to discuss the "Spyro Problem". Ripto's symbol from Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! is on the underside of Spyro's turbo-snowboard. There is a skateboarding trick, the Raging Ripto, which is named after Ripto.

Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly
In Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, Ripto makes his third appearance of being the main antagonist. He uses a spell to scatter the dragonflies around the Dragon Realms. Throughout Spyro's adventure, Riptoc has his own group of minions, the Riptocs. Spyro managed to once again defeat Ripto, who then escaped through a portal.

Spyro 2: Season of Flame
Ripto returns as the main villain of Spyro 2: Season of Flame. In the game, Ripto hired the Rhynocs to invade the Dragon Realms and steal every firefly, which are the source for the dragons' fire breath.

Trivia

 * Ripto's name is based on the Japanese katakana spelling of Spyro (スパイロ).