The Darkness (Skylanders)

"All shall fear and obey me! I am THE DARKNESS!"

- The Darkness

The Darkness is said to be the ultimate force behind all evil in the Skylanders game series, portrayed as a large mass of ominous storm clouds. It is never effective on its own. The Darkness must channel itself through the weak, and in some cases, the idiotic.

Despite being the living embodiment of evil, The Darkness itself and its sinister magic can be controlled. Spyro is the only known Skylander so far to use The Darkness and combine its power with his own to become Dark Spyro, eventually being able to control this power and using the dark magic to fight evil, but always runs the risk of being consumed by the darkness.

In Skylanders SuperChargers, The Darkness gains sentience and is voiced by Ike Amadi.

Origin
The Darkness once lived in another dimension, until the Ancients built the Dark Rift Engine and opened up a portal to its world, allowing The Darkness to escape and spread havoc across the entire world. Eventually, the Ancients built the Core of Light, which was able to repel the Darkness to the far corners of Skylands where it couldn't harm anyone, but one day it would return.

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
Before the events of Spyro's Adventure, Kaos returned from his exile in the Outlands and destroyed the Core of Light, allowing him to use The Darkness to his advantage to conquer the world Skylands. After the Core of Light was fully restored by the Skylanders and the new Portal Master, The Darkness was repelled once more.

In the 3DS version, The Darkness came to the Radiant Isles and brought in Hektore, who then proceeded to capture the Mystic Seekers and forced them to create the Dark Mirror that will later shroud the Radiant Isles from the rest of Skylands. After Hektore was destroyed, The Darkness was driven away.

Skylanders: SuperChargers
In Skylanders: SuperChargers, the darkness makes a return by Kaos building the Sky Eater or as he calls it, the "Ultimate Doomstation of Ultimate Doomstruction". He used the last existing piece of the Darkness to build it with the first Skylander to observe it being High Volt. In the Spell Punk Library, the Portal Master learns that the Darkness came from the Dark Rift Engine which the Ancients made but regretted it severely.

As the adventure continues, the Darkness develops a head and it learns to speak. When you reach the Sky Eater either by Flynn using his ship to drive into the Sky Eater or use a Sky Vehicle to destroy a meteorite which will allow access. Soon after, the Portal Master fights Kaos and then beats him. Kaos then "destroys" the Darkness. The song, "You Beat the Darkness" plays while credits roll in and then the Darkness reappears to fight and finish the Skylanders once and for all.

As the Portal Master and the Skylanders fight the Darkness, Rift Surge Rings begin to show and the Darkness shows his true intentions, destroy the universe, not just Skylands. Soon after, the Darkness gets eradicated from Skylands.

Personality
Between being released from its dimension and its attack upon the Core of Light, The Darkness displayed a destructive personality but it is unknown if it retained the same quirks it developed when hooked up to the Sky Eater. It served Kaos as a weapon alone due to needing a Dark Portal Master to direct its power and its existence seemed only to bring havoc to Skylands.

However, when attached to the Sky Eater, The Darkness materialized in form and developed an actual personality due to the magic it consumed. Its first sign of free will was choosing its own voice to match its own personality which was extremely manipulative. The Darkness spoke incredibly deep and sultry which was presumably picked to convince Kaos that it only wanted to satisfy his need for power in return for being fed more magic. Ultimately though, as its powers grew and plans were revealed, The Darkness was a much more malevolent being when compared to even the likes of Kaos; its willingness to destroy Skylands to control the universe and its nonchalance of such an action when Glumshanks pointed this out displays its cruel behaviour and a line that Kaos himself could not cross. The Darkness hated being betrayed and treated its minions cruelly as it relied on blackmail and aggression to keep Kaos' loyalty in check which ultimately caused its defeat at Kaos' hands.

Powers and Abilities
The Darkness can destroy or corrupt anyone it touches into a minion to do its bidding, it also can grant dark powers to its followers. The more magic it consumes, the more powerful it becomes. Its dark power is said to beyond comprehension, it was stated to have shattered mountains and islands. It could also create objects out of thin air, as it was able to conjure a sword for Kaos, it also possesses a powerful form of telekinesis allowing it to interact with control panels around it or even render people immobile. It could also spawn Shadow Guardians and Shadow Chompies, as well as shoot lasers from its mouth, and cause spiky black vines to grow around it, and even create dark tentacles. Its rage was said to cause earthquakes, it could even create illusions, as it was able to project images of itself and the universe onto Kaos' mirrors. It is also Immortal, the only thing that could finally destroy the Darkness is the Core of Light. When the Sky-Eater was blown up it was able to transform the remaining fragments of it into a robotic armor, also transforming into a humanoid form and gaining the ability to alter the interior of rifts at will, and creating laser shooting crystals.

Quotes
"I am the darkness."

- The Darkness in a high pitch voice.

"All shall fear and obey me!"

- Darkness in a low booming voice

"Hey there, Kaos. I understand that you had a few setbacks."

- The Darkness after meeting Kaos.

"Relax. It's no big deal. I'm here now. Everything's going to be just fine."

- The Darkness telling Kaos to calm down.

"Skylands is only the beginning. Once we're done with this place, we're going to conquer every single world in the universe."

- The Darkness planning on conquering the universe.

"All you've got to do is keep feeding me that magic, and everyone is going to fear the darkness."

- The Darkness telling Kaos to feed him more magic.

"Yeah, and Kaos. Which reminds me. Say hi to your mom for me."

- The Darkness mentioning Kaos' mother

"Do you realize that while you're here playing dress up, the Skylanders are turning the Core of Light into a weapon? They can't be allowed to use it against me and stop my plans to consume all the sky in Skylands!"

- The Darkness revealing the Core of Light to Kaos.

"Why settle for just Skylands when there are so many worlds out there, waiting to be ruled by you?"

- The Darkness revealing Kaos other worlds to pursue him.

"You know what else would be perfect? You destroy the Core of Light, once and for all."

- The Darkness telling Kaos to destroy the Core of Light.

"Of course, you know, there will always be those who try to stand in the way of your greatness, Kaos."

- The Darkness telling Kaos to fire Glumshanks.

"Kaos, haven't we consumed more than enough sky to open the cataclysmic mega rift?"

- The Darkness asking Kaos if the machine is ready to destroy Skylands.

"Then what are you waiting for? Press that button, and destroy Skylands forever."

- The Darkness ordering Kaos to push the button.

"I've waited long enough!"

- The Darkness impatient and scaring Kaos.

"Sorry about that, Kaos. You know, I was hoping it would come to this. Perhaps you have forgotten how much the Darkness has given you, and how easily it can be taken away."

- The Darkness after taking away Kaos' powers.

"You can rule the universe in my image, or you can spend the rest of eternity just being you. So, what's it going to be?"

- The Darkness threatening Kaos.

"See? That wasn't so hard. Cheer up, Kaos. You've got a front-row seat to the end of Skylands, and the beginning of the glorious reign of the Darkness!"

- The Darkness after Kaos pushes the button.

"Very impressive. I'm on the brink of complete and total victory, and you're still fighting. Bravo. Unfortunately for you, it all ends now."

- The Darkness' speech.

"Foolish troll, he answers to me. Isn't that right, Kaos? You see that, Glumshanks? Now, that's how you handle your weakness. Alright, Kaos. Destroy the Rift Engine, and crush their foolish hopes, once and for all!"

- The Darkness ordering Kaos to destroy the Dark Rift Engine.

"I won't go back! The universe is mine! You'll pay for this, Kaos! No one betrays the Darkness! KAOS!"

- The Darkness after Kaos betrays him.

"You didn't really think this was over, did you? You can't defeat me, fools! Skylands is doomed, and the universe is mine! All shall fear and obey me! I am the DARKNESS!"

- The Darkness revealing that he is still alive.

Trivia

 * Glumshanks mentions that The Darkness talks in its sleep.
 * In the IDW Skylanders comic "Secret Agent Secrets", Spyro mentions that The Darkness was locked away, presumably back to its own dimension after its battle with the Skylanders.
 * In the console Skylanders games, specifically Skylanders SuperChargers, The Darkness is the first villain to serve as the final boss with Kaos as the penultimate boss instead.
 * It bears similarities with the Maelstrom of the now retired MMO LEGO Universe.