Element

The Elements are the main breath weapon for dragons in The Legend of Spyro series. Throughout the trilogy, four primary elements are used by Spyro and four other elements are given to Cynder.

History

An entity of light created the elements of Fire, Ice, Electricity, Earth, Wind and Water, while a dark entity created uncommon elements such as Shadow, Poison and Fear. A dragon's breath is essentially elemental magic, obtained from magical essences found within the natural world; from tangible things like ice and stone to more nebulous forces like fire and electricity.

The element of Aether is the signature power of Purple Dragons. When a purple dragon masters the elements of Fire, Earth, Electricity and Ice, they will be able to tap into the power of Aether.

Obtaining Elements

A dragon can obtain their elements when faced with emotional traumas or threatening events. This is repeatedly showcased in The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, as Spyro was exposed to trauma when he unlocked his different elemental breaths, such as when his foster brother Sparx was in mortal danger or when Spyro himself became trapped inside an old bell on Munitions Forge.

While the most common way of using an element is to exhale it from the dragon's mouth, if trained properly, a Dragon can use their elements in any way they can imagine and release them from other parts of their bodies, allowing them to do "elemental melee" attacks such as comet dash.

Each dragon can master only a single element, but Purple Dragons have the ability to master all of the elements and other abilities that aren't possible.

When a dragon is exposed to the darkness of a powerful entity (like Malefor), they can be gifted with abilities that are uncommon amongst dragons. Cynder was corrupted by Malefor's dark magic, and through his influence, she was given the power to use the elements of not only Aether, but Poison, Fear and Shadow.

List of Elements

Spyro

Fire

File:Spyro FireElement.jpg

Spyro using fire breath.

In The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, Fire was the first element Spyro acquired when he used it to save Sparx from a group of apes. His Fire element was awakened from the trauma of seeing Sparx being threatened by the Ape Leader. He later learned to harness his Fire abilities under the teachings of Ignitus. In the aftermath of A New Beginning, Spyro lost his Fire breath along with all his other powers after using the Aether element to defeat Cynder, and had to re-learn them from the Chronicler in The Eternal Night, also learning the move Comet Dash.

Electricity

The Electricity element is one of the four main elements in the entire series and was the second element that Spyro learned. In A New Beginning, Spyro learned this ability while traveling through Dante's Freezer from the trauma of being zapped by enemy electricity released by Trolls, and later learned to harness the Electricity Element with Volteer. The Chronicler helps Spyro regain his Electricity Breath in The Eternal Night, and later reawakened it in Dawn of the Dragon.

Like Fire, Electricity is the most common element to kill enemies. It is useful to kill and control big enemies, paralyzing their movements to give them a huge stunning power of electricity.

Ice

In A New Beginning, Spyro's Ice breath was awakened in Tall Plains from the trauma of seeing Kane being in mortal danger of falling to his death. He first used it instinctively to freeze a river to save Kane's life. He later trained his ability with Cyril. The Chronicler helped Spyro regain his ice after losing it in The Eternal Night.

Earth

This breath once existed only in The Legend of Spyro series, where Spyro learned it in Munitions Forge. Spyro awakened his Earth Element from the trauma of being trapped under a large bell. Like the other elements, Spyro trained his earth breath with Terrador, lost it briefly in The Eternal Night, and regained it from The Chronicler. Unlike the other Elements, Earth Breath isn't literally breathing earth. Earth breath is actually different in each game it appears in. In A New Beginning, it comes out of Spyro's mouth as a green energy that damages enemies. In The Eternal Night, it comes out as an "Earth Flail" that Spyro swings around to damage enemies. In Dawn of the Dragon, it encases Spyro inside of a boulder that can be rolled around to damage enemies, while the secondary earth attack is a sort of rock that shoots out of Spyro's mouth.

Cynder

Wind

In The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, Wind is one of the elements Cynder can use. The element of Wind has been mentioned as one of the many natural abilities Malefor learned in his youth. The breath is first needed in the Catacombs and can be used to blow in the mouths of dragon horns. Cynder's Wind breath seems to be a parallel to Spyro's Ice breath.

Poison

Poison is one of the three uncommon elements Cynder was given by Malefor through his corruption. Poison breath comes out as a thick, green poison that can be used to kill certain plants. Cynder's Poison breath seems to be a parallel to Spyro's Fire breath.

Fear

Fear is one of the uncommon abilites that Malefor lent Cynder through his dark magic. The element comes out of Cynder's mouth as a red soundwave with a noise similar a bat's screech. This attack scares enemies into blocking without attacking for a short time. It can also be used to solve certain puzzles. Cynder's Fear breath seems to be a parallel to Spyro's Electricity breath.

Shadow

Shadow was one of the uncommon abilities given to Cynder through Malefor's dark influence. This element causes Cynder to turn into a shadow for a short time, making her able to get under certain doors and attack enemies without risk of being harmed. The secondary attack of this element is a more literal "shadow breath." It can affect enemies by making them turn against each other and attack one another until the Shadow Breath wears off. Cynder's Shadow breath seems to be a parallel to Spyro's Earth breath.

Both

Aether

The most powerful element, the Aether element, only exists in The Legend of Spyro trilogy. It is the Purple Dragon's signature element and can shift between regular Aether and Dark Aether. Aether first appeared in A New Beginning when Cynder's attack inadvertively awakened Spyro's Aether, with the trauma of Cynder threatening his life with her Shadow Fire fury attack. Spyro used the Aether to free Cynder from Malefor's control. However using this powerful element caused Spyro to lose all other elemental powers temporarily and become so weak that he could "barely lift his head."

In The Eternal Night, when hit with the dark energies of the Celestial Moons' lunar alignment, Spyro transformed Dark Spyro, and the dark influence of the eclipse tapped into the power of Dark Aether, which Spyro harnessed to defeat Gaul in the Well of Souls. The force of the Dark Aether fury was enough to cause the entire Mountain of Malefor to collapse.

In Dawn of the Dragon, Spyro and Cynder can breathe Aether temporarily after activating a Fury. It can also be unlocked permanently by wearing a certain armor set. Aether is referred to as "Fury Breath" in this game.

Trivia

• Water was originally set to be one of the four elements in the Legend trilogy, but in the end, it was replaced by Ice.
• In A New Beginning, some of the Earth elemental attacks involve Wind, implying that wind and earth may be interconnected.