WhileSpyrois the main protagonist in each game of his series, ever sinceSpyro: Year of the Dragon, developers started adding new characters for players to play as. This trend started with Insomniac’s last game in the series because they felt that having onlySpyroas a playable character was too limiting for gameplay options. The game introduced four new playable heroes, who helped Spyro in his quest against the evil Sorceress. Also, Sparx was finally playable for the first time in the series, other than acting as Spyro’s valiant sidekick.
However, further games in the series added new allies and playable characters to the mix, offering even more gameplay styles for the players to enjoy. Of course, not every character and playstyle has proved to be a fan favorite, and there are some characters who are simply better than others to play as.
8Blink
After a brief introduction inSpyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy, Blink finally became a playable hero inSpyro: A Hero’s Tail. Blink is a confident, outgoing mole who loves living underground, where all of his levels are set. While the game has somewhat gained a cult following in the last few years, thoughit’s far from being the best in the series, Blink’s missions are still dreaded by players, and that’s why he’s so low on this list.
Blink’s gameplay style is akin to a classic 3D platformer. His mission is to dig up Dark Shards, which are one of the game’s main collectibles. The problem with Blink is that his gameplay style is really, really slow, making his missions outstay their welcome. To make his case worse, his levels were plagued by a lackluster design. He hasn’t appeared in the series ever sinceA Hero’s Tail, but should any developer think about bringing him back, his gameplay style will surely need some improvement.
7Bentley
Bentley is a yeti first introduced inSpyro: Year of the Dragon. He has since appeared in other games, like the aforementionedSpyro: A Hero’s Tail, but he has never been playable again in main series titles. Bentley is a very polite and well-mannered yeti, who’s very thankful to Spyro after being freed. He’s playable in a few levels and side missions in the game, but he’s far from being a fan-favorite character in the game.
The reason why Bentley is not much liked by the community is because his gameplay style is incredibly slow, just like Blink’s. Playing as him in the original game felt like a chore (but there arefar worse games on the console), especially because all the other characters were so fun to play as. Luckily,Spyro: Reignited Trilogymanaged to make things a little better by speeding up Bentley’s movement, which made this version of the character feel like a huge improvement from the original.
6Hunter
Hunter is undoubtedly one of the most popular characters in the series, and he’s appeared in almost every main game ever since his first introduction inSpyro 2: Ripto’s Rage. Despite this, it wasn’t untilSpyro: A Hero’s Tailthat Hunter finally became a playable character, with his own set of missions. His gameplay style revolved around his bow, a weapon that he had been showing off ever since his first appearance.
While his gameplay style isn’t outright bad, it is still very lackluster. The idea might not be bad on paper, but its execution failed to leave a lasting impression on fans of the series, and Hunter has yet to get a second chance at proving himself as a valid playable character.
5Sparx
Sparx has been Spyro’s sidekick ever since the very first game in the series. And while he’s always at Spyro’s side, acting as his health meter, he finally became a playable character inSpyro: Year of the Dragon. Sparx’s levels play like a top-down shoot-‘em-up. Players need to reach a certain point in the level while blasting away every breathing enemy thanks to Sparx’s abilities.
Despite being somewhat repetitive, Sparx’s stages provided a fun experience, which is probably why they were brought back in later games as well. Moreover, his levels spiced the games up by providing something entirely different from the main platformer gameplay style.
And they provided a good challenge too, even if the game is surely far away from beingone of the most challenging platformer games ever. Since he’s always at Spyro’s side, chances for Sparx’s return as a playable character in the future are rather high, something players will probably be looking forward to.
4Sheila
Sheila is a female kangaroo first seen inSpyro: Year of the Dragon. Her gameplay style is the most similar to Spyro’s, as her stages play like classic 3D platformers. However, thanks to her high jump ability, she’s able to reach higher areas with ease, and that’s what sets her apart from every other character.
While that may seem like a little change from Spyro’s gameplay, Sheila’s stages are an absolute blast to play, especially thanks to her jumping, which could make the case forone of the best jumpings in gaming, and her unique movement style makes for something entirely different from all the other playable characters in this list.
Spyro Reignited Trilogydid not change her gameplay style much, but it did provide the character with a cool re-design, which gave her an even more prominent personality. Hopefully, fans will be able to see this new design in the next game of the series.
3Sergeant Byrd
Sergeant Byrd is first introduced inSpyro: Year of the Dragonas a military, rocket-propelled penguin. Even though penguins are not famous for their flying abilities, Byrd can indeed fly around in his stages, using his weapons to blast off any enemy that comes his way. This made his stages a nice change of pace in every game he has appeared in, which in turn has granted Byrd the status of a fan favorite.
It is currently unknown if players will be allowed to play as Byrd once again in the future. However, chances are that he will definitely make a return, as he’s been playable in most games than any other side character.
2Agent 9
Even though Byrd has scored the most appearances in the series, it’s Agent 9 who gets the gold as the best side character. This futuristic monkey made his first appearance inSpyro: Year of the Dragonand has always been a fan favorite thanks to his sassy, hard-boiled attitude. He was so popular that, at one point, he was supposed to get his own spin-off game, which was unfortunately canceled early in development.
His stages play like shooters, which served as the basis forthe stellarRatchet & Clankseries, something that was made even better inSpyro Reignited Trilogyand is considered by many the best side-missions in the whole game. Considering just how much shooters have changed in the last decades, fans are eager to see Agent 9 return back in action in a newSpyrogame.
1Spyro
The best playable character is, of course, Spyro himself. This purple dragon and his gameplay style are the reason many players fell in love with the series ever since the first game, where he carried the whole adventure on his shoulders.
Spyro’s uniqueness comes from the fact that he’s a dragon. He’s able to breathe fire and fly, something that was pretty unique at the time and still is today. For a while, Spyro was relegated to the role of a Skylander inthe once popular toys-to-life series, butSpyro: Reignited Trilogybreathed new life into the series. Whatever happens in the next game, Spyro will surely make his stellar return as a protagonist, and he may be given new abilities as well.
Spyro: Reignited Trilogyis available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
MORE:Games To Look Forward If You Loved Spyro
