SK Guardians

At the time I'm posting this, Part 2 of this project, the Faux Paradox Series, should be done. And now we're headed into the spinoffs, where the Soul Princes hire their protectors, the Guardians. If I wrote out every chapter from every spinoff, we'd be here a while, so I'm just going to post an outline for the spinoffs and head straight into Part 3: The Future Series at some point in, well, the future.

Up first, Skylanders: Soul Kingdom. In most of the spinoffs, the Soul Princes play "Princes-in-distress". It opens up with a cutscene narrated by who else but Portal Master Eon. I wish I could say I have it written down, but I don't know where the transcript is located on the Soul Kingdom Wiki, and I don't exactly have time to look. So I'm going to make some edits to existing material.

πΊπ‘Ÿπ‘’π‘’π‘‘π‘–π‘›π‘”π‘ , π‘¦π‘œπ‘’π‘›π‘” π‘ƒπ‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘‘π‘Žπ‘™ π‘€π‘Žπ‘ π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿ! 𝐼 β„Žπ‘Žπ‘£π‘’ 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 π‘€π‘Žπ‘–π‘‘π‘–π‘›π‘” π‘“π‘œπ‘Ÿ π‘¦π‘œπ‘’. 𝐼 π‘Žπ‘š πΈπ‘œπ‘›, π‘¦π‘œπ‘’π‘Ÿ 𝑔𝑒𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑖𝑛 π‘‘β„Žπ‘–π‘  π‘€π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘™π‘‘. But π‘€β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘’ π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘’ π‘¦π‘œπ‘’, π‘¦π‘œπ‘’ π‘šπ‘Žπ‘¦ π‘Žπ‘ π‘˜? π‘‡β„Žπ‘–π‘  𝑖𝑠 π‘†π‘˜π‘¦π‘™π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘π‘ , π‘Žπ‘› π‘Žπ‘›π‘π‘–π‘’π‘›π‘‘ π‘€π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘™π‘‘ π‘œπ‘“ π‘€π‘œπ‘›π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿ π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘šπ‘¦π‘ π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘¦. πΉπ‘œπ‘Ÿ generations π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘ƒπ‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘‘π‘Žπ‘™ π‘€π‘Žπ‘ π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘  π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ Skylanders π‘˜π‘’π‘π‘‘ π‘π‘’π‘Žπ‘π‘’ π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘π‘Žπ‘™π‘Žπ‘›π‘π‘’ 𝑖𝑛 π‘‘β„Žπ‘–π‘  π‘€π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘™π‘‘, the Sky Universe, π‘ π‘œ π‘‘β„Žπ‘Žπ‘‘ π‘Žπ‘™π‘™ π‘π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘  π‘π‘œπ‘’π‘™π‘‘ π‘‘β„Žπ‘Ÿπ‘–π‘£π‘’. Just like my old friends the Original Soul Princes did in the Universe of Life. π‘€π‘Žπ‘”π‘–π‘ π‘“π‘™π‘œπ‘€π‘  π‘‘β„Žπ‘Ÿπ‘œπ‘’π‘”β„Ž π‘’π‘£π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘¦π‘‘β„Žπ‘–π‘›π‘” β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘’. πΈπ‘£π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘¦ π‘Ÿπ‘œπ‘π‘˜, π‘’π‘£π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘¦ π‘‘π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘’, π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘’π‘£π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘¦ beast. 𝐡𝑒𝑑 π‘›π‘œπ‘€ π‘œπ‘’π‘Ÿ π‘€π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘™π‘‘ 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 π‘”π‘Ÿπ‘Žπ‘£π‘’ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘›π‘”π‘’π‘Ÿ. π‘‡β„Žπ‘’ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘˜π‘›π‘’π‘ π‘  𝑖𝑠 π‘ π‘π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘‘π‘–π‘›π‘”. π‘†π‘˜π‘¦π‘™π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘π‘  𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 π‘¦π‘œπ‘’π‘Ÿ β„Žπ‘’π‘™π‘. 𝐴 π‘”π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘‘ π‘Žπ‘‘π‘£π‘’π‘›π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘’ π‘Žπ‘€π‘Žπ‘–π‘‘π‘  π‘¦π‘œπ‘’, π‘¦π‘œπ‘’π‘›π‘” π‘π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘‘π‘Žl master. 𝐼 β„Žπ‘Žπ‘£π‘’ 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑑 π‘šπ‘¦ π‘Žπ‘ π‘ π‘–π‘ π‘ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π»π‘’π‘”π‘œ π‘‘π‘œ π‘ π‘’π‘’π‘˜ π‘¦π‘œπ‘’ π‘œπ‘’t to deliver a message from the Blessed Seven, the new Soul Princes. π‘Šπ‘’ 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 π‘ π‘π‘’π‘Žπ‘˜ π‘Žπ‘”π‘Žπ‘–π‘›, soon.

Hugo, curious about the New Soul Princes, goes to meet them with a Skylander security detail, but he runs into Kaos. Hugo and the Skylander barely escape. The Soul Princes… aren't so lucky. The rest of this first spinoff is a journey through Skylands to rescue the Soul Princes, but it's not exactly the Skylands you left back in 2017, with elements of the franchises represented in Soul Kingdom all over, from areas to enemies. At the end, Kaos is stopped, and the Soul Princes ask Hugo and the rest, "I think we might need some backup for when we fight what's coming to our universe. When we're in danger, can the 7 of us count on the Skylanders?" Hugo nods as the Soul Princes gain an army to use as a last resort in future stories.

Up next,

Eco. For eons, it has been the blood and life source of our unnamed world. It is used for the good of the people and for the evil's selfish purposes. Those who can properly channel these energies are called Eco Sages, which is what I, Samos Hagai, am. Samos Hagai the Green Eco Sage. But through these two heroes' adventure, it has been seen that Eco is more than just our power."

- Samos Hagai in the opening

Yep, it's Jak and Daxter.

Haven City is having an anniversary party of their 5 years of peace. The party is more like a carnival with several booths and games with prizes and food. The most busy place is The Naughty Ottsel, the most popular pub in the city. Both of the pub's owners, the Ottsel couple Daxter and Tess are passing out drinks for their friends at the back table. A little kid tugs on Jak's shirt, holding out a paper and pencil with a smile. The hero gave the kid what he wanted: an autograph and the child runs off happily. The leader of Haven City, Ashelin, looks at the time and sees that her little surprise will start in two minutes. Everyone in the pub head outside and the whole civilization see a big display of fireworks. Ashelin thanks Jak and Daxter for bringing peace to the city and both say that saving people is what they do. Daxter then points out a strange rainbow streak coming from the sky. Jak asks if they had any fireworks launched from space, but Commander Torn denies it. The front of the streak explodes and seven colored lights are scattered. One of them, a yellow light, begins plummeting to the city. The streak crashes near Haven Palace. The two heroes go check out the crash site and see a strange garbed creature that looked like a cross between a cat and a mouse (Ratchet.) A revived Kor is a villain in this game, but he's only just a minion of Sins Ira and Superbia. Jak and Daxter go around their world, and prove themselves worthy to be Soul Prince Guardians by rescuing them from a Metal Head invasion, and by the end of it we have our Guardians of Courage and Loyalty.

Abe from OddWorld eventually becomes the Guardian of Spirit. I haven't played that series. I haven't even seen any footage, so I'm skipping over this one. Soul Kingdom: Star Fox gives us our Guardian of Freedom. Hopefully it plays better than Star Fox Zero… I'd imagine Soul Kingdom Star Fox is actually received well, which would be something Star Fox fans haven't said about a new release in the series in decades… in my head it's up there with Star Fox 64.

Up next, Soul Kingdom Nightmare Ned, the most fleshed out of the spinoffs at the moment. Taking place in a dream world, the place in the SK timeline of Nightmare Ned is something I'm not too sure about, but here's what I do know: One month passed since Ned Needlemeyer conquered his fears and defeated the Shadows. During a trip to a theme park, Ned goes on a ride that is too much for him to handle, thus making him develop a fear of certain theme park rides. The Shadows used this opportunity to re-enter Ned's mind, allowing them to put their plans into motion when Ned fell asleep that night.

When he awoke, he discovered that he was in the Quilt again. Wondering if this was a repeat of last time, he noticed that there were seven portals and a gate. The gate had a tombstone with a swirl on it while the portals were represented by several other symbols, four of which Ned recognized. He realized that the shadows were back in action, and he had to stop them again. However, the only world he could visit was the School Shadow's nightmare world, so he decieded to go there first. Before even taking a step, seven different lights appeared from the portals and approached him. Ned could hear voices coming from them, saying simultaneously about his inner power and that he's their last hope. Before vanishing back into the portals, the voices pleaded for him to help them and save their worlds. Ned then went into the portal to the School Shadow's world. And that leads into another rescue mission, the first chapter being Terra II/Sly Cooper.

He visits the other Galaxies before being granted the title of Guardian of the Worlds Between, although in the end he thinks the Universe of Life is simply a dream. Speaking of which, the Guardian of Dreams is Klonoa, and after the Soul Princes come across him on the way back from Oddworld in the intro of the Soul Kingdom: Klonoa game, it's revealed that Arcadia of the True Darknesses is actually benevolent and was the one who gave Klonoa a physical form, before he fell through a rift into the Realm of Sleep. Cue the events of the original Klonoa game on PS1. For the last Guardian, the Guardian of Fun, we head to N. Sanity Island and meet up with a mutated bandicoot named Crash and his friends. Tough as nails platforming awaits as the Soul Princes get involved in a Cortex scheme… And that should be our 7 Guardians. The Soul Princes should be on their way back to Soul Kingdom for another mission assignment to kick off Part 3: The Future Series. Let's listen in, shall we?