Spyro: A Hero's Tail

The ninth Spyro the Dragon game, released on the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube and Xbox in 2004.

There's a new dragon in town named Red, and he's not exactly happy with the other dragon elders. He and his army of Gnorcs and other baddies are planting Dark Gems in the Realm--horrible things that radiate dark energy, warping the world around them! It takes a dragon with tough horns--like Spyro--to break them and return the land to its splendor. There's a bunch of kidnapped dragon eggs, too! By now, Spyro's just gotten used to the whole "world-saving" thing--now if only he could figure out what Red's problem is!

Tropes used in Spyro: A Hero's Tail include:

• Boss Arena Recovery: Not only are there butterflies surrounding the arenas (with more appearing depending on your death count), but the game will actually save your progress in the middle of the fight when you hit the boss enough times, so if you die, the boss' health remains one third or two-thirds gone. The only time the game expects you to finish the boss in one go is with the final boss.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall:
  • Sparx comments that he is "so awesome that this game should be called Sparx the Dragonfly."
  • Ember asks Spyro if the dark gem next to her would make a good engagement ring. Spyro then turns directly to the audience with an Oh Crap look.
• Cunning Like a Fox: The Ice Princess is an anthropomorphic fox.
• Degraded Boss: Gnasty Gnorc: Final boss in Spyro the Dragon, the very first boss in A Hero's Tail. ...Well, he takes more hits to kill in the latter. Heck, there are mooks on the very first HUB who take more hits to kill.
• Genre Savvy: Spyro and Hunter both hang a lampshade on common game cliches.
• Goofy Print Underwear: Gnasty Gnorc reveals his red polka-dot boxers when he's goaded into swinging so hard that his staff/club sticks into the ground. More humiliating is the fact that this is his weak point.
  • Strangely, in his |first appearance, he wasn't even wearing pants.
• One-Scene Wonder: The Ice Princess, who has a very charming design and attracted a small fandom, appears only to give the player a single mission.
• Palette Swap: Flame is basically Spyro with red scales instead of purple ones. There are some subtle differences (a wider snout on Flame, for example) but they're still really similar. Without going into the Model Viewer, it's hard to notice.
• Shallow Love Interest: Ember.
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Ember. In addition to being pink, she has a necklace and a heart-shaped tail.
• Unwilling Roboticisation: Red's final form.
• Whole Costume Reference: The ermine-trimmed gown the Ice Princess wears is based on an actual gown Ann Boleyn once wore.
• Winter Royal Lady: The Ice Princess.
• You Have Failed Me...: Red has a habit of killing off his mooks without a second thought for failing him.