Back in 2012, if you walked into a GameStop, you were basically tripping over plastic orange-based figurines. It was chaos. Activision had a hit on their hands with Spyro's Adventure, but the sequel needed something bigger. Literally. They gave us Skylanders all giants characters, and honestly, it changed the toys-to-life genre forever. It wasn't just about the size of the toys, though having a light-up Tree Rex sitting on your portal felt pretty cool at the time. It was about how these eight specific behemoths shifted the gameplay loop from a frantic "bullet hell" style to something more heavy-hitting and methodical.
I remember the first time I plopped Bouncer on the Portal of Power. The game actually paused to acknowledge his scale. That’s a feeling modern DLC just doesn't replicate.
The Eight Big Guys: Breaking Down the Roster
The lineup wasn't just a random assortment of monsters. Each of the eight elements got exactly one Giant. This was a deliberate design choice by Toys for Bob to ensure that players felt a sense of elemental balance, even if some characters clearly outshone others in actual combat.
Tree Rex is the one everyone knows. He came in the starter pack. He’s Life element, he’s a giant tree with a laser-arm, and he’s surprisingly mobile for a guy made of wood. Most people think of him as the "basic" Giant, but his Photosynthesis Cannon is actually one of the most reliable ranged attacks in the game. Then you’ve got Ninjini. She’s the Magic element representative and, frankly, one of the rarest finds for collectors back in the day. She’s unique because she can retreat into her bottle, becoming invulnerable while raining down mystical projectiles. It's a weird playstyle. You’re playing a giant, but you’re spending half the time hiding in glassware.
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The Earth and Tech Powerhouses
Crusher is the Earth Giant, and he’s basically a walking mountain with a hammer. If you like slow, deliberate hits that shatter enemy armor, he’s your guy. He has this petrify ability that turns enemies to stone, which is a lifesaver when you're playing on Nightmare Mode. On the flip side, Bouncer (Tech element) is all about chaos. He’s a robot on a unicycle wheel. He doesn't walk; he rolls. His finger-guns shoot heat-seeking rockets. It’s absurd. It’s peak Skylanders.
Fire, Water, Air, and Undead
- Hot Head represents Fire. He’s essentially a walking volcano. His most interesting mechanic is the "Oil Slick" which he can ignite to create massive AOE (Area of Effect) damage.
- Thumpback is the Water Giant. He’s a whale in pirate gear. He uses a giant anchor to pull enemies in. He feels the "heaviest" out of everyone. When he jumps, the screen actually shakes.
- Swarm is the Air Giant. Unlike the others, he’s an insect. He can fly, which makes him the fastest of the Giants, though he lacks the raw defensive stats of someone like Crusher.
- Eye-Brawl is the Undead Giant. He’s literally a giant eyeball sitting in a headless suit of armor. You can detach the eye and fly it around to shoot lasers. It’s creepy, it’s cool, and it’s why the Undead element always had the best character designs.
Why Scale Actually Mattered for Gameplay
If you’ve played Skylanders: Giants, you know the world is littered with "Giant-only" interactions. There are these huge boulders that only Skylanders all giants characters can lift. There are Feats of Strength where you have to mash a button to pull an entire island closer with a chain.
It wasn't just a gimmick to sell $15 toys. Well, it was, but it worked.
The Giants had a separate skill tree logic compared to the "Core" Skylanders like Series 2 Cynder or Jet-Vac. Because they were slower, they had higher "Armor" stats. In the original Spyro's Adventure, you could get overwhelmed by a swarm of Chompies. In Giants, you just stepped on them. There was a genuine power fantasy involved in using these larger-than-life figures.
The Light-Core Tech and Collection Value
One thing people forget is how revolutionary the Light-Core technology was. No batteries. No charging. You put Tree Rex or Bouncer on the portal, and their eyes or chest pieces just... glowed. It used near-field induction to power the LEDs inside the plastic. For a kid in 2012, that was straight-up sorcery.
Today, the secondary market for these characters is surprisingly stable. You can find a loose Tree Rex for a few bucks because he was everywhere, but a Mint-in-Box (MIB) Ninjini or a special variant like Scarlet Ninjini or Gnarly Tree Rex can still fetch a decent price among collectors. The "Chase Variants" like the glow-in-the-dark or metallic versions are the holy grails.
The Strategy: Who is Actually the Best?
If you're dusting off your Wii or PS3 to play through the campaign again, you might wonder who to level up first. Honestly? It’s Eye-Brawl. His ability to stay at a distance with the eye-beam while the armor body acts as a tank is broken. It’s a literal "cheat code" for the harder boss fights.
Crusher is a close second. His hammer shockwave clears rooms in seconds.
However, if you're going for speedruns or just want to move quickly, stay away from Thumpback. He’s a tank, but he moves like molasses uphill. You'll spend half the game just waiting for him to walk across a bridge. Swarm is the pick for mobility. His dash attack covers a lot of ground, making the larger maps feel much smaller.
Beyond the Game: The Legacy of the Giants
The Giants weren't just for one game. They were forward-compatible. You could take your maxed-out Level 15 Hot Head and bring him into Skylanders: Swap Force, Trap Team, SuperChargers, and finally Imaginators.
They eventually raised the level cap to 20.
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Seeing a Giant stand next to a tiny Trap Master or a vehicle in later games really emphasized how much the scale of the series shifted over time. They remained the heavy hitters. Even when "Senseis" were introduced in the final game, the Giants still held their own because of their massive health pools.
Practical Steps for Modern Collectors
If you're looking to complete your collection of Skylanders all giants characters today, there are a few things you need to check.
First, check the base. All Giants have a transparent orange base. If the base is green, it’s from the first game (not a Giant). If it’s blue, it’s from Swap Force.
Second, check the limbs. Because these figures were bulky, they were prone to "shelf wear." Swarm's wings and Ninjini's swords are notoriously fragile. If you’re buying on eBay, always ask for a photo of the bottom of the figure to ensure the NFC chip hasn't been damaged by water or heat.
Third, use the "Reset" function in the game menu if you buy a used figure. You want to start from Level 1 to experience the upgrade paths. Each Giant has two distinct paths—usually one that buffs their primary physical attack and one that buffs their elemental "special" move.
Finally, don't sleep on the "Series 2" Core characters that launched alongside the Giants. While not Giants themselves, characters like Series 2 Bash or Terrafin got new "Wow Pow" moves that made them almost as powerful as their larger counterparts.
The era of toys-to-life might be over, but the design of these eight giants remains a high-water mark for the franchise. They were big, they were loud, and they made the living room floor a very dangerous place for anyone with sensitive feet.
Next Steps for Your Collection:
- Identify your missing elements: Check your current roster against the eight elements (Life, Earth, Tech, Air, Undead, Fire, Water, Magic) to see which Giant you're missing for 100% game completion.
- Test the LEDs: Place your figures on a powered Portal of Power to ensure the Light-Core functionality still works; induction coils can occasionally fail over decades.
- Explore Upgrade Paths: Don't just pick the first path you see; for characters like Ninjini, the "bottle" path is widely considered superior for high-difficulty play compared to her sword path.