Cynder (The Legend of Spyro)
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| This article is about the character from the Legend series. You may be looking for the character from the Skylanders series. |
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Cynder | |
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| Species: | Dragon |
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| Gender: | Female |
| Role: | Antagonist (A New Beginning) Deuteragonist (The Eternal Night) Protagonist (Dawn of the Dragon) |
| Homeworld: | Dragon Realms |
| Appearances: | The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning (debut) The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon |
| Attacks/Actions: | Shadow Wind Poison Fear Shadow Convexity Dark Fire Melee Combat Aerial Combat Flight |
| English Voice Actor: | Cree Summer (2006) Mae Whitman (2007) Christina Ricci (2008) |
- "Spyro, your place is here. Your destiny is here. But mine is somewhere out there for me to find."
- —Cynder
Cynder is a black dragoness who appeared in The Legend of Spyro series and is the primary love interest of the main character, Spyro, in the trilogy. She was once the primary antagonist in The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, but became a deuteragonist at the end of the game and in The Eternal Night, later evolving into a heroine alongside Spyro in Dawn of the Dragon.
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Appearance
Cynder is a black dragoness with a magenta underbelly, a blade-like tail made of iron and blade claws on her wing thumbs, big wings with magenta membranes, and six silver-white horns on her head. In her adult form, she wore two silver bracelets on her two front paws, and a silver "choker" on her neck and her tail made of iron, but she wears them again in Dawn of the Dragon. Cynder also has markings on her head, back, shoulders, and around her eyes. When in the form she is in for the majority of The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, she is much larger than usual. Some other attributes of that form are her longer neck, long, lean body, different wings, and a more pointed, adult-looking face. She has emerald colored eyes.
Personality
As an egg, Cynder was stolen by Malefor's dark forces and born under his influence. Malefor's powerful magic transformed Cynder into a lithe, monstrous dragon who was the classic femme fatale: unstable, alternately calm, but explosive, caring about nothing but the return of her master. After she was freed from Malefor's control, Cynder felt guilty about all of the things she had done while under his corruption and thrived to discover her own destiny and help fight against the Dark Master.
In Dawn of the Dragon, Cynder's personality is explored. She is cunning, intelligent, witty, resourceful, brave, spirited, determined, independent, and isn't afraid to speak her mind. Despite her damsel-in-distress role in the previous two games, Cynder is far from passive and doesn't enjoy such roles of frail and weak heroines. For instance, when Spyro was telling Cynder to follow his lead, she immediately responded in an indignant tone, "Why should you lead?'. Cynder's feelings are so strong that she wants to do all she can to keep her loved ones safe, and becomes brave enough to show Spyro hints about her romantic feelings before fully revealing them at the end of the third game.
Abilities
Having been exposed to Malefor's corruption, Cynder was granted abilities most uncommon among dragons. She has the ability to use Poison, Fear, Wind, and Shadow as her breath attacks, which were granted to her in Dawn of the Dragon. In her dark, corrupted form in A New Beginning, Cynder was seen breathing Shadow Fire, but this ability wasn't included as one of her breath attacks when she returned to her normal form and size.
Story
The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
Added by Aura24Cynder was born in the same clutch of dragon eggs that Spyro was in during the Year of the Dragon, making her the same age as the young purple dragon. On the night the Dark Armies raided the Dragon Temple, the Ape King, Gaul, took Cynder's egg, choosing her to be the dragon who would free the essence of the Dark Master, Malefor, from his prison in Convexity. She was then corrupted by Malefor's dark powers, which transformed her into a monstrous and horrific, adult dragon brainwashed to do Malefor's bidding.
Becoming the general of Malefor's army, Cynder led the Apes in the war against the Dragon race and the Guardians. She captured three of the Guardians in order to drain their elemental powers into a crystal that would be used as a key to free Malefor. The Fire Guardian, Ignitus, was the only Guardian who managed to escape and hide from Cynder. Eventually, the evil dragoness took control over the islands and the surrounding land, and put them under her iron rule, all the while still searching for Ignitus in order to drain his elemental power.
Years later, Cynder was informed of Spyro's existence in the Swamp by an Ape Leader, and she immediately scoured the area in search of the young purple dragon, but failed to locate him. While in Dante's Freezer, Cynder was seen flying high in the clouds above the area, leaving the island after draining the elemental energy from the Electric Guardian, Volteer, whom she left in the unknowing watch of the Ice King. She later appeared on Tall Plains, disrupting the shrine of the island's god, the Stone Sentinel, while having drained the power of the Ice Guardian, Cyril, into her crystal. Once she had extracted the elemental power of Ice from the Guardian, the evil dragoness flew off, leaving the Atlawas to deal with their enraged god, who inadvertantly became Cynder's guard to Cyril.
Moments after Spyro saved Terrador on Munitions Forge, Cynder emerged from a lava pool and retrieved the crystal charged by the Earth Guardian's energy. She defeated Terrador with relative ease when he attempted to stop her, and when Cynder caught sight of Spyro, she immediately chased after him through the island as the volcano of Boyzitbig erupted. As Cynder was about to catch Spyro, she was attacked by Ignitus, who intervened to save Spyro but was captured in the process. The evil dragoness then took Ignitus to her fortress in Concurrent Skies where she began draining his energy into the crystal. After learning how to utilize the element of Earth, Spyro ventured to Concurrent Skies to rescue Ignitus. Cynder soon became aware of Spyro's presence within her fortress and confronted the young dragon at the very peak of her lair where Ignitus was being held, stopping Spyro from destroying the crystal before engaging him in battle. After a brief fight, the evil dragoness escaped to Convexity with the crystal after it was fully charged with Ignitus's elemental energy.
Added by Aura24Cynder was returned to the Dragon Temple, where the four Guardians apologized to her for not guarding the young dragoness on the night of the raid. That night, Spyro went to the temple's balcony, looking for any sign of Malefor's return, and Cynder soon joined him, as they both feared that Malefor wasn't defeated yet.
The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night
A number of weeks had passed since Cynder's defeat at the hands of Spyro. During that time, she lived in the Dragon Temple with Spyro and the other Guardians. Everyday however, Cynder felt guilty for all the things she had done while under Malefor's control. That guilt was what lead the black dragoness to leave the Dragon Temple one night to find her own place in the world, despite Spyro's pleas for her not to.
Added by Aura24At the Well of Souls, Cynder was brought before Gaul, who planned to leave her fate in the hands of the Dark Master, Malefor. The Ape King told Cynder that Malefor would either take her back for being a 'faithful' servant, or destroy her. Spyro, who had developed feelings for Cynder since he rescued her, went to the Mountain of Malefor to save the black dragoness from returning to Malefor's side. When he arrived at the Well of Souls, Gaul ordered Cynder to attack Spyro, and it seemed that the dragoness apparently wanted to fight him. However, this was proven to be another ruse when Cynder told Spyro to line her up with Gaul's staff. As the fight started, she made an effort to snatch the staff, but Gaul caught Cynder by the neck and threw her to the wall, knocking her out.
As Gaul and Spyro battled one another, the floor gave way underneath them and they fell to the lower level. The Celestial Moons eclipsed each other, and its evil energy zapped through Spyro, transforming him into Dark Spyro, who swiftly and cruelly destroyed Gaul. Cynder regained consciousness sometime before the battle's end, and along with Sparx, peered into the hole Spyro and Gaul fell through, wondering what was happening down below.
After Spyro flew back to the chamber's upper level, Cynder was horrified to see Spyro as a creature of darkness, and quickly knocked him out of the Lunar Alignment's energy beam, returning the young dragon to normal. Spyro apologized for his inability to control his new powers, though Cynder forgave him, saying that he was with friends. However, as a result of Spyro's battle with Gaul, the mountain began to collapse. Cynder spotted an opening big enough for all three of them to escape, but Spyro was left weakened from his battle with Gaul and urged Cynder and Sparx to go without him, to which they both refused to do so. The opening soon collapsed, trapping the three within the collapsing Well of Souls. Spyro recalled the Chronicler's words as he utilized his Time Fury to freeze Cynder, Sparx, and himself inside a crystal, protecting them from harm as the mountain crumbled around them...
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
After three years of being trapped in the time crystal, Spyro and Cynder were broken free of their crystal prison by a group of Grublins in the ruins of the Well of Souls. A pair of magical necklaces in the shape of snakes were attached to their necks while they laid unconscious, linking the two dragons together and preventing them from being able to move freely or away from each other. They were taken away to the Catacombs to be sacrificed to the Golem under Malefor's orders, and were then pinned by the chain to the floor of a large platform. Spyro and Cynder soon awakened, noticing that they were in a large chamber with Grublins at opposing sides anticipating the arrival of the Golem. They both attempted to leave, but found out they were both chained to the floor and were forced to fight waves of Grublins, until the large Golem arrived and scared the Grublins away.
Added by Aura24While resting in the Enchanted Forest, Spyro, Cynder, and Hunter were captured by Hunter's tribe, whose leader, Chief Prowlus, was distrustful of Dragons because of Malefor and Cynder when she was under the latter's control. After saving the village, Spyro volunteered to find a missing member of the cheetah tribe, and Cynder went along. Along the way, they encountered an old hermit, who Cynder didn't recognize. The Hermit insisted that he knew her, however recognizing her as the monstrous dragon she was from A New Beginning by her eyes, and warned the dragoness of a fate she may very well suffer for being in service to Malefor, and that the Dark Master would find her for betraying him. Cynder became visibly upset over this, but Spyro reassured her by telling her not to listen to the Hermit, and the two dragons soon departed, not wanting to hear anymore of the Hermit's words.
When they arrived at Warfang, Cynder assisted in the city's defense. Shortly after the Golem was defeated, Spyro and Cynder were happily reunited with Ignitus and the other Dragon Guardians. Cynder then revealed to Ignitus the snake chains that binded her and Spyro together, and the Fire Guardian replied that it was irremovable. As Cynder appeared frantic that the chain would remain around her neck, Ignitus added that the chain was more than a hindrance, but a reminder of the bond Spyro and Cynder shared, and that their destinies are intertwined. Cynder and Spyro turned to each other, and shared what seemed to be a loving glance.
After Malefor declared his plan to end the world and lets loose the Destroyer, Cynder came up with a plan to stop the immense Golem: destroying a dam holding back the water from a valley. With the Destroyer momentarily halted as a result, Spyro and Cynder tried to destroy it, only to discover that it was unstoppable, and the Destroyer was able to complete its circle needed to initiate the world's destruction. They decided the only other course of action was to face Malefor himself.
Added by Aura24Inside, Malefor began the task of verbal corruption of Spyro, and stated that they have more similar qualities than just their color. Spyro immediately began to deny Malefor's words, and Cynder told Spyro to not listen to anything the evil dragon said. Malefor proceeded to release Spyro and Cynder from the magical chain linking them, and it is then that the Dark Master claimed that his influence over Cynder had not been extinguished, saying he had caused her to lead Spyro to him and that she tricked Spyro into resurrecting Malefor. Cynder at first denied his words, but gradually grew unsure over her actions in the past, allowing Malefor to once again unlock the darkness within her and turn Cynder back to his cause. She began to attack Spyro, who only shrinks away whilst Malefor continued to taunt him, claiming that there had been many purple dragons before them, and that their destiny was to destroy the world, not save it. He goes on to say that, during each age, the purple dragon would call upon the Golems of the Deep to bring about "the Great Cleansing". Spyro refused to believe Malefor, while Cynder continued to attack the young dragon relentlessly.
Added by Aura24During their first phase in the battle, the Destroyer managed to throw itself back into the volcano from whence it came, thus completing its circuit and beginning the destruction of their world. Spyro, Cynder, and Malefor continued to fight, however, The Dark Master was soon thrown down to the planet's heart, a giant purple crystal, by a joint attack. Malefor declared that he cannot be defeated as he was eternal. However, the spirits of the Ancients, the Dragons who taught Malefor all he knew, emerged from the purple crystal upon these words, and proceeded to drag Malefor into the planet's heart and sealed him away, much to his dismay and the awe of Spyro and Cynder.
With Malefor gone, the chain around Spyro and Cynder's necks disappeared along with his dark magic, but Malefor's plan was still underway as the planet was breaking itself apart. Cynder apologized to Spyro for her past actions, and Spyro forgave her, telling her that she shouldn't be sorry now that it was all over. She then wondered if this was the end, as pieces of the world was breaking apart around them. With Ignitus's words in his head, Spyro realized what he had to do to save the world, and told Cynder to get out of the earth's core, not wanting to risk her life should he fail. Not wanting to lose Spyro again, Cynder refused to leave him, and as Spyro used his powers to try and prevent the world's end, she whispered to Spyro that she loves him. The world was then restored by Spyro's desperate endeavor as it was slowly being put back together, but it seemed that both Spyro and Cynder were killed as a result.
Added by Aura24The Legend of Spyro 3D
According to the plot of the cancelled Spyro movie, Cynder was a powerful black dragon who was enslaved to the Dark Master by the red crystal she wore around her neck.
Relationships
Spyro
After Spyro freed her from Malefor's grasp, Cynder felt responsible for the suffering she caused to everyone, even Spyro. As time passed, however, Cynder realized that Spyro really cares about her, and started to care about him in the same way. Her friendship with Spyro eventually blossoms into true love due to his heartfelt understanding of her, as it becomes shown in the middle of Dawn of the Dragon. Cynder, in turn, begins to show some of her feelings. After Ignitus' death, she starts speaking to Spyro in a soft tone of voice from there on out. Spyro also shows Cynder that it wasn't her error while the other denizens still remember her corrupted days and despise her still, and the young black dragoness quickly takes on a more positive attitude, even admitting her love to Spyro as he uses his power to restore the shattered world.
Sparx
Spyro's companion and foster brother, Sparx, doesn't get along with Cynder very well, mostly due to him still thinking that she is still evil, unlike Spyro, who truly understands her, or might be jealous of her garnering Spyro's attention rather than him. Cynder always takes a more sarcastic personality when "conversing" with Sparx. The argument between the two seemed to have been diminished when Sparx couldn't accompany Spyro and Cynder to the Burned Lands to face Malefor, and the two know that their differences should be saved for another time to come. It is assumed that Sparx is jealous of Cynder because Spyro is growing more close to her than he did with Sparx.
Character Development
Cynder was one of the rare opportunities for Krome Studios to create a female villain character in The Legend of Spyro series that was both unique and fresh design wise. But they also felt as if she had been a part of the Spyro mythology for quite some time. The story for the first installment of the trilogy, A New Beginning, called for "a powerful and shadowy dark dragon" to be Spyro's nemesis, beyond that no specification was given and the starting point was very loose. Bruno Rime, Cynder's character designer and art lead of the project in Krome Studios, determined that this villain be female and a black dragon, as the previous dragon villain in the earlier Spyro titles (Red) was generally red coloured.
For both Bruno Rime and Jared Pullen, another artist who worked on A New Beginning, from the get go presence was paramount, and the black dragon Maleficent from the Disney movie, Sleeping Beauty, had that in spades. They used the villainess' reference in terms of her lithe, sinuous form, which they adopted for Cynder's overall body structure. But pretty soon, Bruno was exploring Gothic overtones in keeping with the visual cues of Concurrent Skies, the environment that Cynder was first encountered in. The platinum jewelry was evident as a personal touch for the 'evil' version of Cynder and served to signify her as both feminine and regal, but also gave the impressions of servitude, as if the decoration about her throat was less a necklace and more a manacle, indicating her enslavement to Malefor's thrall. The development team later went on to call Cynder a "Midnight Dragon" owing to this Gothic nature, and all the design work was handled by Bruno. There were about three or four iterations on her design from memory, as Bruno had a strong vision for who Cynder was visually.
During development, Cynder was referred to as "The Anti-Spyro" and the Apes were known as "Anti-Spyro Soldiers." Knowing that they couldn't ship the game with those names in place, the development team ran an internal competition for the final name for the female dragon villain at both Krome Studios and Vivendi Universal (now branded Activision) and after about three weeks, they chose the name Jared Pullen called the black dragon Cynder.[1]
International Voice actresses
| Language | Voice dubbing actor |
|---|---|
| Danish | Thea Ulstrup |
| Finnish | Mirjami Heikknen |
| Norwegian | Siri Nilsen |
| Swedish | Frida Nilsson |
| Dutch | Yvonne Jane van Leeuwen |
| French | Nathalie Homs |
| German | Ann Vielhaben |
| Italian | Beatrice Caggiula |
| Spanish | Silvia Cabrera |
| Russian | Sofija Allikasa |
Notes
- In the Italian version of The Legend of Spyro Trilogy, Cynder is known as "Cinerea."
- In the Russian version of The Legend of Spyro Trilogy, Cynder is known as "Огара."
- In the Finnish version of The Legend of Spyro Trilogy, Cynder has a completely different name, which she is known as: "Kekäle" (in which that is literally Finnish for: "Cinder").
Gallery
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon Cynder Art Gallery
Added by Aura24Trivia
- In Dawn of the Dragon, the sudden appearance of Cynder's iron jewelry was unexplained, since she didn't wear them on before she, Spyro, and Sparx were frozen in time. It was later revealed by one of the producers of the Legend of Spyro trilogy, that Cynder wears the iron jewelry as a way of facing her fear of becoming Malefor's servant again. There was going to be a cutscene involving her putting the jewelry on, but there was no time in creating and adding the scene in during the game's production.
- Throughout Dawn of the Dragon, Cynder was the only one who was greatly irritated that she was tethered to Spyro, and wanted to get the green chain off as soon as possible.
- In Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, there is a dragonfly named Cinder.
- Cynder is one of two roles in The Legend of Spyro series to be constantly recast (the other being Sparx). She is voiced by Cree Summer in A New Beginning, Mae Whitman in The Eternal Night, and Christina Ricci in Dawn of the Dragon. But in most other language dubs for Cynder, the voice-dubbing actress on that language for Cynder was kept throughout the series.
- Despite Cynder being a black dragon, her scales sometimes appear to be purple, be it dark purple, when compared to Spyro in Dawn of the Dragon. This appears mostly in previous concept art of Cynder, and in the final game of the series (where her body is seemingly always shown to be purple). It could be a glitch, a color error, possibly to symbolize her love for Spyro, or could also be a result of the lighting (notice that blacklights glow purple). It is also possible that if her coloring was black, it would be hard to see the shading on her.
- She is, however, black in the DS and mobile version of Dawn of the Dragon.
- Taking both the original and The Legend of Spyro series into consideration, Cynder is one of the only other playable dragons who does not have the same elements as Spyro.
- Cynder is the only female character who has really proved to Spyro that she is in love with him in Dawn of the Dragon.
- In the movie called Dragons: Destiny Of Fire, there is a dragon called Marina who is very similar to Cynder because they have the same horns, the same eyes, both are partners to the main character, and they have almost the same color.
- In A New Beginning, Cynder's wings are shown to have a few holes, possibly from the battles she had won. But her wings didn't have any holes in most cutscenes, likely from the pre-rendered cutscenes using models differing from those in the game.
- Cynder is the only Legend character to have a different role in each game; in A New Beginning she was the antagonist, in The Eternal Night she was a deuteragonist, and in Dawn of the Dragon she was a protagonist.
- It should be noted that, like her role, she has a different physical look for each game.
- In A New Beginning, Cynder was shown using a dark fire element, although this ability never appeared after the game.
- Cynder's corrupted form has two bracers on her tail, while her normal form only has one.
References
| Characters |
| Spyro - Sparx - Ignitus - Volteer - Terrador - Cyril - Cynder |
| Realms |
| Swamp - Dragon Temple - Dragon Dojo - Dante's Freezer - Tall Plains - Munitions Forge - Concurrent Skies - Convexity |
| Enemies |
| Ape Soldiers - Ape Leaders - Ape Commanders - Frog Weeds - Growths - Bulb Spiders - Ape Dummies - Dreadwings - Ghouls - Spector Ghouls - Mounted Ghouls - Ape Gunners - Armourdillos - Stone Brutes - Ape Cannons - Buffalo Beetles - Magma Worms - Fire Beetles - Electric Leeches - Crystal Brutes - Conduits Bosses |
| Elements |
| Fire - Electricity - Ice - Earth - Convexity |
| Terms |
| Dragons - Dragonflies - Apes - Spirit Gems |
| Characters |
| Spyro - Sparx - Ignitus - Volteer - Terrador - Cyril - Cynder - Gaul - Chronicler |
| Realms |
| Dragon Temple - Dreamscape - Ancient Grove - Grove Underground - Fellmuth Arena - Pirate Fleet - White Isle - Celestial Caves - Well of Souls |
| Enemies |
| Ape Soldiers - Ape Leaders - Ape Commanders - Toad Weeds - Spiders - Death Hounds - Dreadwings - Grove Worms - Grove Mites - Grove Beasts - Growths - Skavengers - Skurvywings - Blundertails - Pirate Gunners - Armourdillos - Stone Trolls - Fire Elementals - Elemental Crystal Brutes - Crystal Ball Spiders Bosses |
| Elements |
| Fire - Electricity - Ice - Earth - Convexity |
| Terms |
| Dragons - Apes - Spirit Gems - Scriber's Quills - Dragon Relics - Dragon Challenges |
| Media |
| The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night Promotional Movies |
| Characters |
| Spyro - Sparx - Cynder - Hunter - Malefor - Ignitus - Volteer - Terrador - Cyril - Chronicler |
| Realms |
| Catacombs - Twilight Falls - Valley of Avalar - Warfang - Ruins of Warfang - The Dam - Burned Lands - Floating Islands - Malefor's Lair |
| Enemies |
| Grublins - Grublin Flies -Hero Grublins - Orcs - Hero Orcs - Trolls - Bowman Orcs - Wyverns - Shadow Apes |
| Elements |
| Fire - Electricity - Ice - Earth - Convexity - Poison - Fear - Wind - Shadow |
| Terms |
| Grublins - Spirit Gems - Armor - Green Chains - Elite Enemies |
