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“One Strike and You're Out!”
    —Lightning Rod's official catchphrase

Lightning Rod is a storm giant who is one of the playable Skylanders in the Skylanders series, first appearing in Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure.

Background

Personality

Lightning Rod prides himself on being the most macho of all the other storm giants in Skylands,[2] though he isn't used to sharing the spotlight. He is brave, but can also be charming and charismatic. Lightning Rod even considers everyone else in Skylands to be 'girlie', especially girls, and few are brave enough to argue with him![3]

Biography

Lightning Rod once lived in the majestic Cloud Kingdom, where his countless acts of heroism along with his winning smile and electric physique made him the most famous storm giant in the realm. He was a true celebrity, and the palace halls were littered with statues of the chiselled hero. But all the praise and admiration could never quite satisfy Rod, who yearned for something more. As luck would have it, he met an adventurous young dragon named Spyro, who told him fantastic stories of faraway places and dangerous adventures. Rod was spellbound, and he set off with Spyro to seek an audience with Eon to join the Skylanders.

Story

History

The storm giants are the ancient athletic heroes of Skylands who like to be number one in every event. Aside from being able to bench-press 250 tons, few things are important to the storm giants than their grand competitive games. And the celebrated champion of the storm giant sporting elite is Lightning Rod. Lightning Rod is the giants' most talented thrower, and sat atop of the table in the thousand-metre lightning bolt hurl for many a year (that was until he sent a stray bolt into the crowd, electrifying a spectating cyclops in the process).

But it was during a different event - the triple gold ring lightning bolt toss with a twist - that Rod hit the headlines. Just as he was flexing for the throw, Kaos' giant projected head appeared above the crowd, demanding - as usual - that all in attendance submit to his rule. Lightning Rod wasn't used to sharing the spotlight, so he hurled his bolt skyward. So powerful was the throw that it ripped past the project and into Kaos himself, who was hiding behind in an airship. Seething with anger and spitting blue sparks, Kaos had to accept defeat and flew away. But another attending Portal Master - Eon - had also seen the action, and immediately made Lightning Rod a Skylander.[4]

Skylanders: Lightning Rod Faces the Cyclops Queen

At the start of the Annual Storm Titan Games, Lightning Rod accidentally hurled a large hammer in the path of Flynn's balloon, causing it to spiral out of the control. The Skylanders quickly came to the rescue, knocking away the balloon's dangerous debris from the spectators within the stadium and saving Flynn, Double Trouble, Hugo and a Warrior Librarian named Squirmgrub who were on board the balloon from crashing. Hugo then told Master Eon that the Mask of Power had revealed the location of the next fragment to the Mask of Power, and that Squirmgrub has also discovered something about the malevolent item.

Lighting Rod Cannonball

To save his friends, Lightning Rod shows his power by punching an incoming cannonball to pieces.

Within the stadium, the Skylanders discovered that the Air segment to the Mask of Power has seemingly taken on the form of a Land Whale, which was stationed at a zoo held by the Cyclops Queen at Tempest Towers. Master Eon sends Lightning Rod, Pop Fizz, Drobot, Double TroubleCali, and Flynn to the Tempest Towers that lied beyond the Sea of Storms in their mission to claim the Air fragment before Kaos made his move. However before they could depart, Kaos captured Cali, who knew the path to Tempest Towers. The Skylanders gave chase, following Kaos while treking through the Sea of Storms and battling Windbag Djinnis in the process. They managed to get to Tempest Towers and trick their way inside with Pop Fizz's beserker form posing as a never-before-seen creature, while Flynn and Double Trouble keep a lookout for Kaos.

However after tricking the Cyclops Queen and her husband, Pipsqueak, the Skylanders were found out, and Lightning Rod and Drobot were thrown to the tank where the immobile Land Whale resided. The Storm Giant became hypnotized by the Whale and began walking towards its open jaws, but Drobot quickly distracted the monster long enough for Lightning Rod to break of the Land Whale's hypnosis and free the robot dragon before he was eaten alive.

The two Skylanders escaped with Pop Fizz in time to see Kaos and his army of Drow battling against the Cyclops Queen's forces, with Kaos winning the struggle. Knowing that Kaos was after the Land Whale for the Air fragment, Lightning Rod hurled the Whale far from Tempest Towers, and the evil Portal Master hastily followed after it. The Skylanders were confused by Lighting Rod's action, but discovered that the Air fragment was really one of the towers of the city, which was made of Cyclopnite, the heaviest stone ever mined, and the opposite of the Air element.

Lightning Rod drank one of Pop Fizz's potions to grow to a humungous size big enough to carry the tower back to the Eternal Archive. After releasing the animals imprisoned by the Cyclops Queen back to their respectable homes, and retrieving the Air segment, Lightning Rod was returned to his original size, and surprisingly shared the glory of stopping Kaos with the other Skylanders. Unknown to the Skylanders, there was a traitor in their mist who had been revealing the locations of the Mask of Power to Kaos: Squirmgrub. 

Abilities

Being a storm giant, Lightning Rod can throw lightning bolts and summon a large lightning bolt to strike down from the heavens to vanquish his foes. He can also send out electrical discharges from his cloud base to electrocute surrounding enemies.

Stats

These are the starting and maximum statistics for this Skylander in the console version of the games.

  • Health: 290 (max. 580)
  • Speed: 43 (max. 91)
  • Armor: 18 (max. 48)
  • Critical Hit: 30 (max. 80)
  • Elemental Power: 25 (max. 100)

Warning: These stats are not used in any of the Skylander games. They are only listed for completeness reasons.

  • Strength: 65
  • Agility: 60
  • Defense: 60
  • Luck: 65

Powers and Upgrades

Basic Abilities
These abilities are available from the start of the game.
Soul Gem Ability
Requires Soul Gem from:
Stonetown

Lightning Bolt Grand Lightning Summoning Zapper Field Deluxe
Lightning Rodprimarypower

Primary Ability
Throw a lightning bolt at enemies.

Lightning Rodsecondarypower

Secondary Ability
Bring lightning down from the sky and control where it moves.

Lightning Rodsoulgempower

Price: 4000
Zapper Field and clouds do extra damage.

Basic Upgrades
Skylanders can buy new abilities from Persephone.

Lightning Lancer Thunderation Zapper Field Lightning Harpoon
Lightning Rodbasicupgrade1

Price: 500
Lightning Bolt does increased damage.

Lightning Rodbasicupgrade2

Price: 700
Grand Lightning attack lasts longer and does increased damage.

Lightning Rodbasicupgrade3

Price: 900
Create a electrical storm that damages enemies.

Lightning Rodbasicupgrade4

Price: 1200
Lighting Bolts stick into enemies and continue to damage them.


Lightning Lord
This upgrade path lets you further develop your Grand Lightning attack.

Faster Caster Electricity City Lightning Avatar
Lightning Rodpath1upgrade1

Price: 1700
Summon the Grand Lightning attack much faster.

Lightning Rodpath1upgrade2

Price: 2200
Grand Lightning attack has even more power and does more damage.

Lightning Rodpath1upgrade3

Price: 3000
Summon the most powerful Grand Lightning attack ever!


Typhoon Titan
This upgrade path lets you further develop defensive clouds.

Cloud Zapper Satellite Zappier Sats Zapper Satellite Defense
Lightning Rodpath2upgrade1

Price: 1700
A protective cloud follows you and zaps any enemies that come near.

Lightning Rodpath2upgrade2

Price: 2200
Protective zapper clouds do increased damage.

Lightning Rodpath2upgrade3

Price: 3000
A third protective cloud joins you.

Skylanders gain new abilities automatically based on their level.

Starting Powers

  • Lightning Bolt (Primary Attack): Hurl a bolt at enemies.
  • Thunder Strike (Secondary Attack): Summon a powerful electric surge from above. It will last for a few moments and damage any enemies that it touches.

Upgrades

  • Stormlord (requires level: 3): When lightning rod tosses a bolt (Y), he will also damage nearby enemies.
  • Stormcaller (requires level: 6): When a thunder strike (X) ends, it will burst and damage nearby enemies. lightning rod will also move faster while thunder strike is damaging enemies.
  • Air Master (requires level: 9): Hold (x) to send lightning rod's thunder strike forwards, damaging enemies in its path.

Minigame Abilities
Skylanders get special abilities in minigames based on their element.

Sky Defense Castle Assault Ground Defense
SSUSkyDefenseair

Create a tornado that makes enemy projectiles spin and hurt other enemies.

SSUCastleAssaultair

Launch a projectile that makes the projectile move upwards instead of falling down.

SSUGroundDefenseair

Create a tornado that stuns and pushes away enemies in range.

Quotes

Battle Cries

  • "One Strike and You're Out!"
  • "Bring forth the thunder!"
  • "Today's forecast -- Me!"
  • "Bring down the lightning!"
  • "My greatest triumph! Again..."
  • "Forecast says: you lose!"
  • "I strike down my opponents!"
  • "Feel my thunder!"
  • "Too easy!"
  • "Lightning strikes again!"
  • "Victory has rained down!"
  • "Bow before me!"
  • "It jolts from the heavens!" - level up
  • "You can not hold back nature!" - opening a gate
  • "Storm coming through!" - opening a gate
  • "Those numbers are electrifying!" - checking stats info
  • "These stats are shocking!" - checking stats info
  • "So be it!" - given a nickname
  • "I'm known by many names!" given a nickname
  • "A crown fit for a king!" - given a hat
  • "This mustn't mess with my hair!" given a hat
  • "Thunder plunder!" Opening a chest
  • "I've earned these riches!" Opening a chest

Book Quotes

Skylanders: Lightning Rod Faces the Cyclops Queen

  • "By my beard and biceps, I shall save them!"
  • "Lightning Rod. Champion of the Cloud Kingdom. Master of Lightning. Winner of the mightiest beard ten years running. You have heard of me, yes?"

Character Trailers

Gallery

Main article: Lightning Rod/Gallery

Trivia

  • Lightning Rod is based on Zeus, one of the Greek gods. He could also be based on the Viking God of Thunder, Thor, and the lightning demon Raijin in Japanese Mythology.
  • Lightning Rod shares some similarities with the Legendary Pokémon Thunderous both summon lightning attacks, both have a cloud pedestal as half of their bodies, both have blue skin, and both can fly without wings.
    • He is one of the two characters in Skylanders to be based off a Greek myth character (the other being Persephone).
  • His species is not to be confused with the Giants, the original Skylanders.
  • Lightning Rod is the only character whose body is also his base.
  • His autobiography entitled “Rod the Bod” has sold over 1 million copies – mostly to himself.[2]
  • He resembles King Neptune from Spongebob Squarepants (except the movie version).
  • He, CamoGhost Roaster, and Tree Rex don't have an upgrade path for their primary attacks.
    • Although his Wow Pow is based on his primary attack
  • His hair is purple in some of his upgrade pictures.
  • His Great Copper Bracers are what allows him to summon and control grand lightning from the sky.
  • He is the only Air Skylander who can't fly.
  • In the Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure Official Sticker Book, Lightning Rod's backstory differs greatly from his official biography.[5] Though this biography was supplied by Activision, making it official as well.
  • For some reason, in the Xbox 360 version of Spyro's Adventure, Lightning Rod is unable to go over water. He is able to go over water in Giants.
  • His Series 2 figure is based on his Wow Pow Big Bolt.

References

  1. Skylanders: Portal Casters 10th Anniversary Celebration Pt. 5 - Alex Ness. (Date Posted - Oct 16, 2021). YouTube
  2. 2.0 2.1 Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure Q&A. (Date Posted - Sep. 23, 2011). KidzWorld
  3. Skylanders Official Annual 2013, page 31
  4. Skylanders Sticker Book: Meet the Skylanders, page 84
  5. Skylanders Sticker Book: Meet the Skylanders, page 84
Characters
Playable Characters

Spyro the Dragon (Dark) (Legendary) - Gill Grunt - Trigger Happy (Legendary)
Cynder - Terrafin - Stealth Elf - Chop Chop (Legendary) - Eruptor - Ignitor - Prism Break - Stump Smash
- Flameslinger - Zap - Ghost Roaster - Voodood - Bash (Legendary) - Sonic Boom - Drobot - Boomer - Whirlwind
- Dino-Rang - Zook - Wrecking Ball - Sunburn - Camo - Wham-Shell - Slam Bam - Drill Sergeant
- Lightning Rod - Warnado - Double Trouble - Hex

Villains
Kaos - Hektore - The Darkness
Glumshanks - Captain Dreadbeard - Occulous - Vathek

Non-Playable Characters
Master Eon - Hugo - Flynn - Cali - Diggs - Sparx the Dragonfly - Auric - Gurglefin - Clam-tron 4000 - Arbo
- General Robot - T-Bone - Weapon Master - Persephone - Snuckles - Rizzo - Nort - Blobbers -
Jess LeGrand - Batterson - Gallant - Haldor - Flavius - Ramses
- Fargus - Wendel - Esmerelle - Beaufort - Humfry - Tizwig

Playable Characters
Classic series
Spyro - Sparx - Hunter - Sgt. James Byrd - Agent 9 - Sheila - Bentley - Blink
The Legend of Spyro series
Spyro - Cynder
Skylanders series
Spyro the Dragon (Dark) (Legendary) - Gill Grunt - Trigger Happy (Legendary) - Cynder - Terrafin
Stealth Elf (Legendary) - Chop Chop (Legendary) - Eruptor - Ignitor (Legendary) - Prism Break - Stump Smash
Flameslinger - Zap - Ghost Roaster - Voodood - Bash (Legendary) - Sonic Boom
- Drobot - Boomer - Whirlwind (Polar) - Dino-Rang - Zook - Wrecking Ball - Sunburn - Camo
Wham-Shell - Slam Bam (Legendary) - Drill Sergeant - Lightning Rod - Warnado -
Double Trouble (Royal) - Hex
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