Ignitus

Ignitus is a Fire Guardian Dragon of The Legend of Spyro series. He is the leader of the four fragon Guardians. He serves as the father-figure to Spyro and provides him with words of wisdom and leads him onto the right path, as well as teaching him about the element of fire training.

Personality

As the leader of the Guardians, Ignitus has unquestionable ability, second only to Terrador in military strategy. He is often calm and collected but has been known to break out into fits of fury, using his fire ability to great effect. He blames himself for everything that has happened to Spyro and Cynder and carries that guilt throughout the series. His faith in Spyro is utterly unwavering and he is a devout believer in the Ancestors, truly believing that Spyro is nature's way of balancing itself against evil. He is the leader and most dedicated of the four Guardians, he is still haunted by failures of his past and seeks to redeem himself. Equally capable of warmth, rage, and long smoldering bouts of shame, resentment, and regret, he keeps his distance from the other three Guardians, Volteer, Cyril, and Terrador. However, when the time comes he is only too glad to enlighten others and stoke the embers of hope and stand in the face of fire that others might burn even brighter. He is also seen as a father figure to Spyro.

Abilities

As a Master of Fire, Ignitus is competent in all fire techniques and can quickly dispatch his enemies with little effort. His ability to explode in rage makes him a perfect berserker for the blazing heat of burning battles. He is known to be one of a few dragons that can see visions in special vision pools and can also provide protection from fire and other sources of heat by generating a blue aura around himself and any others in the near vicinity of him.

Story

A New Beginning

Ignitus was one of the Guardians in charge of protecting the eggs in the Dragon Temple when the temple was attacked. Fearing for the purple dragon's safety and the ancient prophecy that foretells the coming of a new age, he takes the purple dragon's egg and sends it down a stream. When he returns to the temple, he finds that the other Guardians have been overwhelmend and all the other eggs had been smashed.

Many years later, Ignitus was the last free Guardian when he and Spyro crossed paths in the Swamp. The Guardian is amazed to see Spyro alive and well but it takes the persistent questions from Spyro to lift Ignitus out of his despair. He informs Spyro of what has happened to their race and about the dark dragon, Cynder. When he told Spyro about their home Spyro expressed an interest to see it which Ignitus at first refused. But Spyro would not take no for an answer and together they reclaimed the Temple.

Once there Ignitus showed Spyro what Cynder had done to the nearby islands and after teaching him how to fly and use his fire abilities more effectively, sent Spyro to rescue the other guardians that were being kept on the other islands in the clutches of Cynder's forces.

When Spyro rescued the last guardian, Terrador, from Munitions Forge, Cynder attacked Spyro and it was only by Ignitus' intervention did Spyro escape. However, Cynder overcame Ignitus and took the last Guardian to her fortress in Concurrent Skies to drain his element into the last Crystal needed to free her master, the Dark Master.

When Spyro arrived to rescue him, Cynder fought the purple dragon to give time for the powering of the crystal to be completed. When it was finally infused with Ignitus' power, Cynder took the crystal and fled to Convexity to carry out her plan. A weakened Ignitus explains to Spyro that Cynder was stolen from the Temple on the night of the raid and was in fact a dragon just like Spyro, but was twisted by the Dark Master's influence. It was these words that led to Spyro rescuing Cynder after her transformation back to her true self upon her defeat and he brought her to the Temple with him. Ignitus was overjoyed at the outcome and expressed a sincere apology to Cynder, blaming himself for everything that happened.

The Eternal Night

Ignitus and the other Guardians were asleep when Cynder left the temple out of guilt. As such they were all present when the Apes attacked the temple again and were able to defend it. Spyro, who had left the temple momentarily to stop Cynder from leaving, made his way back to the main body of the temple and witnessed Ignitus battling Apes alone. The Fire Guardian asked for Spyro's help, and when the apes began to focus their attention on Spyro, he used his fire fury to destroy most of the apes before entering the temple. When Spyro defeated the last of them on the balcony, Ignitus returned and asked where Cynder was.

When Spyro told him she'd left, he gathered everyone around the Pool of Visions to search for her but to no avail. Spyro told Ignitus about his dreams and the Chronicler and Ignitus fears that the Dark Master may return and sends Spyro on his journey to the Chronicler whilst he stays behind to search for Cynder.

Dawn of the Dragon

File:Ignitus dotd.jpg

Ignitus in Dawn of the Dragon

Ignitus has also grown three years older, and his voice has become huskier, though he is still played by Gary Oldman.

During the three years that Spyro and Cynder were missing, Ignitus led the Guardians and the other dragons in the war against Malefor. Despite his best efforts, he could not hold the Dragon Temple and it fell into Malefor's control, who tore it from the ground and raised it above the volcano that formed as a symbol of his power. Ignitus moved to the dragon city of Warfang and waited for Hunter, whom he sent to find Spyro and Cynder after they disappeared.

He defended the city when it was sieged by Malefor's army and led the attack on the Golem when it appeared. Despite his best efforts, however, he was knocked out of the sky by the Golem and collided with a building, rendering him unconscious until after the battle. Ignitus was relieved to see Spyro when he finally had the chance to talk to him and was present when Malefor declared his plan to destroy the world. Ignitus ordered everyone to venture underneath Warfang to reach the Destroyer before it completes its circle around the globe and then comforts Spyro when the young dragon worries about what was going to happen. When Cynder thought of a plan to stop the Destroyer, Ignitus ordered everyone else to buy her and Spyro some time by any means necessary.

When the plan failed, Ignitus took Spyro and Cynder through the belt of fire, but the dark power of the fire was beginning to overpower him. As he struggled to keep the barrier around them up, Ignitus apologized to both Spyro and Cynder for everything that had happened to them by his failures. Sacrificing himself, he threw Spyro and Cynder through the ring of fire, his death having a deep, almost devastating, impact on Spyro. Ignitus' spirit appears briefly after Spyro and Cynder's battle with Malefor, giving Spyro final words of wisdom before he disappears, giving Spyro the realization of his destiny as the purple dragon before he reconstructs the world back together.

After the world was restored, Ignitus had been chosen by the Chronicler to become the new Chronicler of the new age. He asked the Chronicler what became of Spyro. The old dragon explained to Ignitus that each time a dragon dies, a new page is written in the Book of Death, but he can't seem to find any trace of Spyro among the pages, meaning that Spyro and Cynder, are alive. The Chronicler then disappears; Ignitus donning the Chronicler's appearance, his scales turning a shade of blue and wielding the Chronicler's various objects. He then looked into the book, wondering where Spyro and Cynder might be, keeping his eye on their futures.

Trivia

• Ignitus is the only red dragon to appear in the series other than Red and Flame from the original series.
• His Japanese name is translated to Korean as in: 이구니쯔스. (Igunijjeuseu)
• In the Finnish version of The Legend of Spyro trilogy, His name is completely different in which he is named as: Syttö.(which is literral translation of his name(Syttö is a form of word sytyttää which means ignite))
• If the Legend of Spyro trilogy was translated in Japanese, then Ignitus would be known as イグニツス Igunitsusu in Japanese.
• Ignitus, being the new Chronicler at the end of Dawn of the Dragon, would explain why he was narrating the beginning of A New Beginning and the beginning of Dawn of the Dragon. It's possible that he was reading the whole trilogy the whole time to the viewers after the events of Dawn of the Dragon.
• Ignitus is played by Gary Oldman, who also played as Count Dracula in the 1992 Bram Stoker's Dracula film, Sgt. Reznov in Call of Duty: World at War and as Sirius Black in Harry Potter 3, 4, and 5.
• His Dannish voice was done by: Stig Hoffmeyer.
• His Finnish voice was done by: Sasu Moilanen.
• His French voice was done by Marc Alfos.