By: Jenna Busch
Skylanders: Trap Team is on its way to your consoles and tablets and Kidzworld got a look behind-the-scenes at Toys for Bob, the company who makes the game. First thing tomorrow, we’ll have a preview of the brand new version of the game, which allows you to trap the villains you defeat and trap them in a crystal. You can make them fight for good, straight from you portal. Today, however, we have a look at how the bad guy Kaos came to be.
Skylanders: Trap TeamCourtesy of Activision
Now if you, like us, have been all over the Skylanders Wikia, you know his backstory. Mr. Ego himself was born a prince. His brothers had long, lovely hair, but Kaos was kind of bald and stinky. His father was embarrassed by him and Prince Kaos didn’t take that very well. He “kicked his after in the widdershins, gave away his royal name and headed out into the wilderness along with his equally-ugly butler, Glumshanks.” Our magical meanie realized he kind of rocked at magic and lead him to wish for a life as a Portal Master. He made his way to Skylands and began his pursuit of power.
Kaos didn’t always look the way we see him now, though. We got to speak to I-Wei Huan, Toy and Character Director at Toys for Bob about how Kaos got his look. He also showed us pictures of how he looked from the beginning of his design until now. We’ve got them right here for you.
As you can see, the first versions of Kaos has him looking like an elf. “That didn’t feel quite right,” said Huan, who told us that the entire process took a few weeks.
Kaos' beginning: He looks a lot more elf-like than human hereCourtesy of Jenna Busch
Maybe he's a little TOO scary?Courtesy of Jenna Busch
“So next we decided that, well, he should be a little guy. But the problem is, now he doesn’t feel like he can emote. He’s a little powerful guy, but he isn’t quite there yet.”
The third incarnation of Kaos -- Does he remind anyone of Groundskeeper Willie from The Simpsons?Courtesy of Jenna Busch
Kaos as a robot: Scary, but hard to moveCourtesy of Jenna Busch
“So here’s where we took a big turn. We decided, so, you’re (the player) the Portal Master, and you’re playing as a human character. What if the evil Portal Master is also a human-looking character?”
Kao looking a little more human, but a lot olderCourtesy of Jenna Busch
“So these are pretty bad attempts at that,” he laughed and joked about him looking like Yoda from Star Wars.
Kaos as Yoda: Use the Force, Portal Master!Courtesy of Jenna Busch
“These guys just ended up looking pathetic and not powerful enough. But they’re little guys, right? So we scrapped that. So now he looks like a really powerful and evil, too scary of a guy, but he’s a little Portal Master dude. So this is where we felt like, this is cool, but that doesn’t feel like it fits. So we took that guy and decided well, what if he is kind of bring back to Skyland more of a character that has the essence of that dude.”
Kaos close to his final incarnationCourtesy of Jenna Busch
“That’s why in the first game, his alter-ego floating head is kind of realistic-looking. From there on, it’s just roughing him out more into what he is today. We drew him more to kind of get his personality to come through. So that’s how Kaos came to be. It’s not like, oh just design the evil dude and draw a couple pictures and that’s it. It’s exploring.”
Kaos as you see him in the gameCourtesy of Jenna Busch
“Each picture didn’t take look, but this is only the stuff I’m showing you,” he told us. He also said he had no idea this was going to be as big a task as it was. “If I had known how big a character he was, I probably would have spent more time on it!” He even signed a picture of the final designs for us!
A picture of Kaos, signed by I-Wei Huang, Toy and Character Director for Toys For BobCourtesy of Jenna Busch
Early this morning, it was just announced that Kaos is going to have his own playable mode in the new game! He even gave us a quote: "A recent evil study of a thousand trolls revealed that nine out of ten agree that I am the most powerful and impressive evil doer to have ever conquered Skylands. Naturally, I had every tenth one banished to my "Kaos Doom Challenge" to test the effectiveness of my 100 waves of ultimate evil doom - and they were never heard from again. So let's just say EVERYONE agrees - I am the most powerful and impressive evil doer ever."
We got to take a sneak peek at Mr. Evil's mode (on the PS4) and battled his minions in waves while protecting a mystery box of doom! We'll have more info tomorrow, but it was pretty cool.
Skylanders: Trap Team will hit stores on October 5th, 2014!
Have Your Say
Are you guys excited for the new game? What system are you going to play on? Who’s your favorite character and which new one are you most looking forward to? Let us know below!
