User:One-Winged Devil/sandbox/Ripto

Ripto is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Spyro franchise. His name is based on the Japanese katakana spelling of Spyro (スパイロ). Being a recurring villain in the franchise, he has been the archenemy of Spyro ever since his first appearance, in the game Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!.

In the series, Ripto is depicted as an ill-tempered, diminutive but powerful and dragon-hating dinosaurian sorcerer with a purple cape and a single horn on his forehead. He aids two henchmen: Crush, a caveman-like Riptoc who's usually seen with his trusty club and following his master around; and Gulp, a ceratopsian Riptoc capable of devouring anything wherever he goes.

Ripto was created by Ted Price, and was originally designed by Craig Stitt. Critical reception of Ripto has been mostly positive.

Design and characteristics
Ripto was first designed by Oliver Wade. He is voiced by Gregg Berger in the English version of the game and by Kenji Utsumi in the Japanese version.

Ripto is a devious madman who enjoys power simply for the sake of it. He delights in causing all sorts of trouble and havoc with his magic, and is no threat to dragons. His lone ability is to conjure various magic spells at his disposal using his sceptre; however, as a dinosaur, he does not seem capable of properly using magic like dragons do. In truth, Ripto despised his small stature, and he took it out on the world to prove that his wrath was much bigger and scarier than his modest size suggested. Frustrated, short tempered and spiteful, Ripto pulled off deception and trouble that would suit a large, intimidating creature.

Background
Ripto was picked on at school as a child. He became so used to not joining in with games that now he only wants to ruin everyone else's fun. Ripto enlisted Crush and Gulp in order to help him wage war on their race.

Main series
In some of the main series, Ripto has served as the main antagonist. In Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, when he arrives in Avalar, he sniffs the air to conclude dragons were not there. However, in Spyro's arrival in Glimmer, Ripto immediately smells Spyro's presence before actually noticing him. Not even Crush and Gulp can defeat Spyro, leading Ripto falling. He, however, has survived and has managed to steal the power crystal from the Super Portal for a new scepter before locking himself into the castle in the Winter Tundra. In his arena, Ripto tries to test the power crystal on his new scepter on three sheep. They, however, run away before his attack can reach them, angering him. Spyro arrives and volunteers to be a target for Ripto's power crystal, mockingly promising to stand still. Ripto agrees, but he finds that Spyro is prepared to fight to the bitter end, only to be knocked into a pool of lava. One year later in Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, Ripto successfully attacks the Dragon Realms, scattering the Dragonflies far and wide and leaving the young dragons weak. However, Spyro foils him once again.

Other appearances in the series
In Spyro 2: Season of Flame, Ripto gives the Rhynocs some orders to steal the fireflies from the Dragon Realms. Spyro and Sparx finally arrive at Ripto's volcano, defeating him and return fire breath to all the dragons. In Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs, after the Professor enables Spyro and Sparx to always be able to keep an eye on what Ripto is up to, the sorcerer has stolen the Professor's warp device, leading Spyro, Sparx, and the Virtual Playground ending up on a beach in the Dragon Shores. They are able to stop Ripto. In In Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy, Ripto teams up with Doctor Neo Cortex, a villain from the Crash Bandicoot franchise, to destroy both Crash and Spyro, but he ends up defeated by their nemeses.

Critical reception
Gregg Berger's vocal performance as Ripto was praised.