Legend of Spyro = Lord of the Rings ripoff???

riverhippo · Nov 28, 2010 11:45 AM

I've heard this argument before and it came again in a thread in the "Spyro's Kingdom" section. Instead of off-topicking down there, I decided to create it's own thread here.

I do not think LoS resembles LotR enough to call it a ripoff.

But, let's say it is a ripoff...

Let's first try to line up the characters.

Protagonists:

Elijah Wood's voicing of Spyro matches almost perfectly with Frodo as not only is it also him, but is the main protagonist of the story.

Cynder is harder to match. As a stand-by-me for Spyro in DotD she seems like a Samwise, but Sparx matches more as Samwise because he is a lifelong friend. Cynder also plays the antagonist in the first installment, and is questionable about whose side she is one for a good portion of the next. So unfortunately for her, Cynder could only be matched up with Gollum or Smeagol. Ouch, Cynder...

Ignitus is probably Gandalf being the father figure for the main protagonist. But then again, it's easy to say Boromir could resemble Ignitus since he sacrificed his life to help Frodo advance, even after he selfishly took a small turn for the worst (symbolizing human flaw). And Aragorn replaces Gandalf as the father figure when Gandalf was missing or presumed dead, so even Aragorn is up for debate. Ignitus might be a close election.

Hunter could be Legolas with his cliche archery skills.

Volteer, Cyril, and Terrador are kind of open-ended characters, so let's go ahead and mistakenly place them as Volteer and Cyril as Meriadoc and Peregrin, only because they have tag-team characteristics and personalities. They also have their own adventures apart from the main protagonist Terrador equals Gimli since he acts more or a leader as Gimli is the representative of the dwarfs in the fellowship. Strange.

Now for the Antagonists:

Malefor is without a doubt Sauron. The only argument against this is that unlike Sauron, Malefor was able to rehabilitate his physical properties having escaped the confines of just being a "force of evil nature."

Gaul could be the Witch-King of Angmar. They both are second antagonist to Malefor and Sauron, they both are leaders of the army, and they both die ferociously well before the final battle. The rest of the ape army is the Nazgul or Ringwraiths, even though the apes are far more vulnerable than the Nazgul.

And lastly, the third party antagonist Skabb shares parts with Saruman. And Scratch and Sniff could together be Wormtongue.

So what do you think?

Is The Legend of Spyro a Lord of the Rings ripoff??

Clock-la · Nov 28, 2010 1:49 PM

I'd say...it is Xd but..its not...you know I think its based on it but like you know what evs lol

JazzJackrabbit · Nov 28, 2010 4:08 PM

I would have liked it to be closer to the LOTR story. Just make it an easier to follow version with dragons and anthropomorphic animals instead of hobbits and the other human-like creatures. It should have the official Tolkien seal so people consider it a companion series or spinoff, rather than shameless knockoff.

riverhippo · Nov 28, 2010 6:42 PM

JazzJackrabbit wrote:

I would have liked it to be closer to the LOTR story. Just make it an easier to follow version with dragons and anthropomorphic animals instead of hobbits and the other human-like creatures. It should have the official Tolkien seal so people consider it a companion series or spinoff, rather than shameless knockoff.

I don't disagree with you, but Tolkien would have never wanted that. Rule number one is don't tamper with or recreate his stories as it is a disgrace Tolkien's work.

Jackson117 · Nov 28, 2010 9:12 PM

Smegal and cynder...nope don't see it.

It's pure luck Wood was in the movies as he seems to be a decent voice actor= 9,Happy feet etc.

However Warfang is pretty much minas trinith

riverhippo · Nov 28, 2010 10:13 PM

Jackson117 wrote:

Smegal and cynder...nope don't see it.

It's pure luck Wood was in the movies as he seems to be a decent voice actor= 9,Happy feet etc.

However Warfang is pretty much minas trinith

What best fits Cynder then?? Arwen? LOL

NormanDPlume · Dec 01, 2010 12:26 AM

I'd say Cynder is a mix of Smeagol and Arwen.

LoS really does get a lot of things from LotR (and knock offs of it, like Dragonlance; this much is admitted by Mike Graham himself). It also does a fair bit of ripping off from the LotR games, from what I've heard, right down to the Golem being a Balrog.

But it's not just LotR that LoS rips off. It takes a lot of its story from Star Wars, in particular the new trilogy, as well.

riverhippo · Dec 01, 2010 1:41 AM

I think LoS rips more off from Peter Jacksons overall illustration of the three modern films than the actual story. I think Disney's Chronicles of Narnia would be a lot different had Lord of the Rings not been illustrated into the three films. It would still be based from C. S. Lewis' books, but it would lack the luster that, before LotR's time, was considered a movie-making risk. (e. g. huge CGI detail in scenery, long effective pauses in the storyline that enhance emotion, and keeping elements of the original author's true--even for book to film.)

JazzJackrabbit · Dec 01, 2010 2:20 AM

riverhippo wrote:

I think LoS rips more off from Peter Jacksons overall illustration of the three modern films than the actual story. I think Disney's Chronicles of Narnia would be a lot different had Lord of the Rings not been illustrated into the three films. It would still be based from C. S. Lewis' books, but it would lack the luster that, before LotR's time, was considered a movie-making risk. (e. g. huge CGI detail in scenery, long effective pauses in the storyline that enhance emotion, and keeping elements of the original author's true--even for book to film.)

Coincidentally, I have a paper due soon, and the topic is C.S. Lewis. In research, I found that Lewis did not like Disney Co. Also, before production of "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" they considered modernizing and Americanizing the story. (the rumor was that the kids moved from California because of the earthquakes rather than from London because of the bombings, and the witch tempted Edmund with cheeseburgers, rather than Turkish delight) It wasn't until after the faithful adaptations of Harry Potter, that the LOTR trilogy was adapted, and after both of those successful illustrations, Disney decided to keep Narnia accurate to the books. I guess we could thank J. K. Rowling for how DOTD came out.

Another thing I learned in my C.S. Lewis research, is that, according to legend, The Beatles were considering making a Lord of the Rings adaptation, with them as the voices. Instead they made Yellow Submarine. I'm sorta' disappointed because I'd have liked to see their adaptation, but Yellow Submarine is cool too.

I agree that DOTD copies more of Peter Jackson's directing. I see a lot of things copied from Harry Potter, Star Wars, and LOTR.

riverhippo · Dec 01, 2010 3:06 AM

moving away to avoid the earhquakes? wow, that's lame... LOL

I'm a pretty big Beatle fan, and I would have to say that legend has to be a sorry rumor. However, it does explain how bad Yellow Submarine ended up becoming. It's the worst thing the Beatles ever did, include breaking up... IMO.

JazzJackrabbit · Dec 01, 2010 3:15 AM

riverhippo wrote:

moving away to avoid the earhquakes? wow, that's lame... LOL

Yeah, but I could still imagine Edmund putting on his best lolcat face,then asking the witch, "I can haz cheezburger?"

Jackson117 · Dec 01, 2010 3:34 AM

Smegal and arwen.

Gollum was the other side of pure obession and hate

Swaffy · Dec 04, 2010 12:19 AM

You know what I say? I say it has 1% resemblance. You can relate a lot of
storylines to Spyro games if you strain your imagination enough.

And I am always led to this Bible quote: There's nothing new under the sun.

riverhippo · Dec 04, 2010 1:22 AM

You could argue that there are few stories that don't draw from Tokein's works. He revolutionized the style and captivity a good fiction novel has.

Jackson117 · Dec 04, 2010 1:36 AM

The only thing TLOS has with LOTR is the city...and the troll monster attacking the gate...End of story.

NormanDPlume · Dec 05, 2010 4:40 AM

And Frodo Baggins voicing the hero (who acts quite similarly), and a Balrog...excuse me, "Golem"...and a battle of orcs vs. elves...er, "dark forces" vs. moles in Minas Tirith...I mean Warfang...

This is just off the top of my head, but I can think of more if you'd like. Alas, it saddens me that it is an insult to one of the founding works of modern fantasy to compare a thing to it, but it is what it is, I guess.

KraytDragon · Jun 04, 2020 4:17 PM

I'd say not, but it sure reminds me of the Lord of the Rings, maybe because of Elijah Wood's voice.

Spyrofriend · Sep 07, 2023 1:30 AM

LOTR didnt have a female antagonist/protagonist, granted its because its came out in the 50s when fiction was almost exclusively male centered and the historic fiction Tolkien wanted to emulate with LOTR even more so. Yes the Legends copies from LoTR, granted thats not entirely a bad thing. But the 3 games we got were very clearly limited by the budget so that a lot of world building and branching out simply wasnt possible on the roughly 1 million budget all 3 games got. seriously, how much did Gary Oldman charge for like 2 lines in a the Eternal Night? Probably half the budget. Also why they kept changing Sparx and Cynders voices, to save money. For me, Cree Summer did the best job as Cynder

#1 Nov 28, 2010 11:45 AM

Legend of Spyro = Lord of the Rings ripoff???

#2 Nov 28, 2010 1:49 PM

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#3 Nov 28, 2010 4:08 PM

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#4 Nov 28, 2010 6:42 PM

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#5 Nov 28, 2010 9:12 PM

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#7 Dec 01, 2010 12:26 AM

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#8 Dec 01, 2010 1:41 AM

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#10 Dec 01, 2010 3:06 AM

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