I started getting into Spyro sometime after learning about dress history from a few people, like Bernadette Banner and Abby Cox. I am in no way an expert, but I did recognize a few influences in Ripto’s design. I thought it would be cool to share for anyone who might be interested. (Seriously, dress history is such a fascinating topic.)

The first thing I noticed on his outfit was his cravat.  A cravat is basically a predecessor to the modern necktie. Cravats in the past were worn as an accessory, but I would argue that they served a practical purpose as well, like hiding stains from bodily fluids on the shirt or catching sweat from your face to protect the outer clothing (which were often more intricately designed, more expensive, and more delicate material that could not be washed all the time without ruining the garment).

Cravats are never worn tucked into the shirt, however. But I imagine the people who rendered Ripto’s model would have given the animators a tougher time doing their job if they added too much. So I would like to argue that Ripto isn’t just wearing a shirt. His design is implying that he is wearing a vest as well, which is what his cravat is tucked into. Specifically one like this with no lapel, since Ripto’s model doesn’t have one either, and a hem that’s cut straight across.

Belts, at least the kind we use today that keep our pants up, were not invented until the 1920s. Before we had that, people used suspenders for that purpose since pants did not have belt loops. Ripto’s design so far implies that he’s wearing the same thing. Otherwise, his pants would sag with extended activity and his shirt underneath would puff out between the vest and the waistband. Mens pants back then were pretty high-rise, so that helped prevent such wardrobe malfunctions, but the suspenders were still a big help regardless.

I couldn’t tell you what pants Ripto is wearing. So I’m going to skip those. His shoes too. They were likely a stylistic choice, but I have no idea why they stick out at the calves. If the pants were, like, looser I think they would’ve been shaped differently to look puffier. I’m going to subscribe to the idea that the shaft of Ripto’s boots are protruding from fitted pant legs.

I wanna talk about the coat. The capelet on his coat is the biggest discrepancy between his design and his 3D render. Personally, I’m going to let the final render take precedence and argue that Ripto is wearing some stylized version of an ulster coat. (I know Ripto called it a cape, but the Art of Spyro: The Reignited Trilogy book mentions the devil horn motif in parts of Ripto’s design, including “the tail of his coat.” This is on page 33. Since the devs didn’t seem to come to a consensus on what Ripto’s outer garment is, it’s up to the individual. I’m on Team Coat.) Ulster coats were the solution to the combined problem of weather protection and bulky design posed by its predecessors, and it became so popular that it ended up being pushed for a feminine version in the women’s market as well. Ulster coats have stood the test of time and remain popular in modern fashion (as well as a staple in alternative fashion thanks to media like the anime Hellsing and…Well, the movie Van Helsing. No relation.) As you can see, Ulster coats are the GOAT.

But I digress.

Finally, the shirt Ripto is wearing underneath all that looks to me like a Regency style shirt, judging by the collar. This is just a guess because it took me a long time to find anything that matched enough to my standard so my point would get across. And the photo I found labeled it as Regency. I had a hunch Ripto's shirt might be, but I wanted to be certain. Nearly all shirts for men from around that time had very loose sleeves that were fastened by a fitted cuff, but they could be stuffed pretty well into form fitting jacket sleeves since the material was very light.

I think I covered everything but the amulet. I hope this was informative, or at least interesting to read. I’ve always been interested in fashion, and finding out about dress history was like a treasure trove to me. Ripto is also my favorite character in Spyro, so sharing what I recognized in his design is the serotonin kick I needed today.

Also, if anyone has any corrections or other tidbits of info to add, totally point them out! I’d like to read what you have to say!

I'm stuck at 598/600. Hitting the sparx ability in the main world does his little spin, meaning there's no gems left.

The yeti boxing level has no gems, kicks you out immediately.

Cat hockey level has no gems either.

What am I missing?

I've been working on a set of 30 character art cards to celebrate PlayStation's 30th Anniversary. I still have the backgrounds and lettering to do, but I am halfway through the set otherwise and wanted to share them so far!

There was a 30th Playstation anniversary video. Im assuming no Spyro pictured as I saw Crash but no Spyro. Maybe I missed him but I'm not hopeful

I’m missing a 5 gem in crystal islands don’t tell me the game broke I’ve already put too much work into this games save

I thought I was gonna have some casual gaming fun reminiscing about childhood. Spyro used to be my favourite game as a kid especially the year of the dragon.

I've completed elden ring and gulp is ridiculous. I was able to beat it as a ten year old on PS1 what is up with the difficulty bump.

I find his green lasers impossible. Sometimes I can zig zag but sometimes he randomly shoots 5 and I can't move anywhere as the whole area around me has AOE I've spent around 3 hours rinsing and repeating. Also the eggs seem to be timed perfectly to not open when needed and gulp kills me or gets to them first and heals up .

I feel like this boss fight has completely tarnished one of my childhood memories.

If "Spyro 4" happens and it's just like a "modern" update but with the soul and style of the original Insomniac trilogy, what realm/level (or Homeworld) would you want to see/play? I mean one of your own creation/imagination, it can be completely original or based partly on something already done. I'm curious as to what the people want.

To put context I fat fingered and I accidentally deleted my save.I had the first game 120% done and the Second game70~ I completed all the other worlds and the skill points and went to do that last boss fight got hit so I quit the game to try to get the skill point And accidentally deleted it

It's a wireless controller but it doesn't work nor wireless nor wired.

So I saw one of the videos of CGE, where he explains if Spyro 4 will be a RPG... I going to be honest, this time the clues are very , very loose, but it got me thinking... Would Spyro actually work as ARPG?

I still recall the issue that Insomniac did have with back on their day , but a ARPG would given quite of a few new oportunities, we wouldnt see open worlds but paths to explore, waves of enemies to defeat, we could still have colectables arround as treasure and it could feature more characters into the roster, for example: Spyro as melee tank: uses his flames and horns to attack Hunter as ... A hunter: uses traps and his bow Bianca: Mage, uses the magic to dominate the battlefield Elora: Healer, uses the orbs to channel magic healing Etc. Etc. Etc

What are your thoguts?

Once when I played "Spyro 2" right before I went to fight Crush, when I talked to Elora I remember her saying, "I'll help by throwing down sheep if I can catch them." But she never said that again.

It's been about 8-10 years since I played the GameCube version of Spyro enter the dragonfly. Im on bed rest for a while cause I fucked up my back so I thought this would be a good time to revisit it and I'm glad I did. The controls are just as shit as I remember, textures not completely finished and touching each other so the eather of the level is exposed. I love this game so damn much, not a single complaint

Like yeah, he's a full fledged dragon, has his own dragonfly and everything, still doesn't use his claws to stop himself from sliding around everywhere on icey surfaces. Sliding down am actively erupting volcano, he shouldnt control like a melting icecube on an 85° angle, especially not while traveling across a, mostly level, volcanic rock formation. But he does, and I couldn't be happier with it. It's an old game, it's charming and silly and stupid sometimes, but it's why I love it so much.

Does anybody know why this error keeps appearing every time I start launching the game? It was working perfectly two hours ago and then all of the sudden went nuts on me. I can't seem to fix it as all of the solutions I've found on google seem to be for a different kind of error (or I'm doing something wrong) 🙈