“I haven’t made such easy money since the Sorceress bought that mayonnaise for sunscreen.”
—Moneybags
Moneybags (マネーバッグManēbaggu in Japanese) is a bear from Avalar and a neutral character who first appeared in Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!. He is an upper-class, money-grabbing and somewhat deceitful con man who is infamous for charging Spyro exorbitant fees, paid in Gems, in order for Spyro to learn a new skill or to pass through a door. The costly prices are eventually paid by Spyro, much to the delight of Moneybags (in one instance he refused to admit a password to a door until Spyro coughed up; when he did, Moneybags revealed the password to be "Gullible").
Moneybags first encountered Spyro in Glimmer, where he charged gems in order for Spyro to cross a bridge. He appeared many more times during Spyro's journey in Avalar. In each instance, he imposed a hefty price (or in his own words "a small fee...") for a certain service, such as opening a portal or teaching Spyro a new ability. Moneybags was apparently already quite wealthy at this point, as is indicated by his fine apparel and the bag of gems he always carries with him. After Ripto's defeat, Moneybags was forced to give back all the gems he had taken from Spyro. In the epilogue, Moneybags had swindled the Bonebuilders in Skelos Badlands one too many times and they had their pet Lava Lizard chomp on him.
Spyro: Year of the Dragon
Moneybags continued to annoy Spyro by charging him for services in the Forgotten Realms the following year. He was also keeping Sheila, Sgt. Byrd, Bentley and Agent 9 imprisoned for the Sorceress and made Spyro pay fees for their release. In response, each of the captured characters gave the ursine some well-deserved punishment. Moneybags also displayed numerous skills during this time, such as a mastery of haiku and magic, all of which he used to make more money.
However, he pushed Spyro one step too far by plotting to sell a dragon egg, which resulted in the purple dragon chasing him around Midnight Mountain and forcing Moneybags to give up the treasure and the egg he had taken. After that, Moneybags said that he would retire to Spooky Swamp to become a haiku poet, but he disappeared through the portal to Crystal Islands (after that, he is no longer seen anywhere in the game, not even in Crystal Islands or Spooky Swamp).
However, in the epilogue, it is revealed that Moneybags somehow got to Dino Mines and became an easy target for the Bailey Gang.
Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly
Moneybags was later seen in Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly in the Dragonfly Dojo, making Spyro pay to cross a bridge. He was dressed in a blue robe with pink flowers and stood nonchalantly by one of the frozen dragon masters. He mentioned in this game that the shine of gems "helps him to write his poetry," showing that he may still be a haiku poet. However, unlike in previous games, Moneybags disappears after this encounter, and never repays Spyro. In unused dialogue for the game, he was to repay Spyro, and leave his occupation of taking gems and turn to gold.[1]
Spyro: A Hero's Tail and Spyro: Shadow Legacy
In Spyro: A Hero's Tail, Moneybags seemed to have developed a completely different voice which resembles an Egyptian accent, opposed to his former well-spoken British accent. He also wears a fez. At this point, he had gained a good deal of business by starting several shops across the Dragon Realms. In A Hero's Tail, when you come close to a Remote Shop Pad, he talks to you saying things like "Go ahead, Spyro! If you have money to spend, I am here to relieve you of the burden!".
In Spyro: Shadow Legacy, it appeared he has a wife and four sons who are not as obsessed with gems as he is. His sons are Maxwell, Marvin, Merton and Marshall. He is not seen much in Shadow Legacy, but his sons are around to sell items to Spyro.
Other Appearances
Moneybags made a few appearances in Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs with his own level called Moneybags' Mansion and his nephew Minibags, both of whom wear the same sort of glasses and move about as the characters in that game do from side to side. Minibags seems to always be in two places at once, as he appears in the Main Hall and the Entrance outside the mansion. The music for this level is the same as that for Moneybags' Vaults in this game. All of Moneybags' Vaults have to be opened by pressing two red switches in a period of time. Obviously, Moneybags still had his intention of taking Spyro's gems.
Gallery
PS1 picture of Moneybags from Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage
Moneybag's dialog image as seen in Season of Ice
Trivia
In Ripto's Rage!, Moneybags can sometimes be seen wearing different colored suits. For example: Moneybags wears a denim blue coat, a sky blue dress shirt, and a blue pendant (instead of his usual black suit jacket and green or violet pendant) when he is encountered at Crystal Glacier. This also makes him one of the few recurring characters to have multiple outfits in the same game.
This may just be due to the cold however as moneybags appears to turn blue all over himself.
In the Crystal Islands, Moneybags threatened to turn Spyro into a blue hedgehog if he didn't hand over the gems required to lower the bridge. This is a reference to Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog.
His appearance has changed several times. In Spyro: A Hero's Tail, he dresses with an Indian style and talks with an accent. In others, he dresses more for the higher class with a suit and a monocle.
In Spyro: Year of the Dragon, every time Spyro released one of the other playable characters, Moneybags would always get attacked by them and forced away: Sheila kicked him into a wall after pretending to forgive him for keeping her in a cage, Sgt. Byrd used one of his BAM missiles to blast him away, Bentley whacked him angrily with his club (even asking Spyro for one more whack), and Agent 9 humiliated him by using his laser to "make him dance".
Through glitching, many of Moneybags' areas and required payments are skippable, most of them being possible in Year of the Dragon.[2] Note, however, that these areas will still be locked until you complete the game, and Moneybags will not drop any gems when you chase him because you did not give him any.[3]
The Japanese voice actor of Moneybags, Masuo Amada, also voiced Jecht in the Japanese version of Final Fantasy X. It's also interesting to note that Jecht's English voice actor also voiced Hunter and Ripto in the English version of Ripto's Rage!
Neil Ross, Moneybags' English voice actor in Year of the Dragon, also voiced Bentley in the same game.
In Spyro: Year of the Dragon, when you get your money back from Moneybags, all previous places where Moneybags asked a fee, and you didn't pay, get unlocked.
It's also possible to bypass Moneybags, with the Swim-in-the-Air and (for Evening Lake) Dead Mode glitches, to enter Sheila's Alp, Sgt. Byrd's Base and Bentley's Outpost. Once these worlds are completed, their sub-areas in other worlds are automatically unlocked.
It is also possible to bypass some events in Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! by various methods.
In the Skylanders series, the character Auric bears a striking resemblance to Moneybags, and may have been based on him.
Even if one attempts to perform a skill that moneybags teaches without paying him, Spyro can not perform it.
In Spyro: Ripto's Rage!/Gateway To Glimmer , Moneybags occasionally mentions what he plans to purchase with the Gems that he receives from Spyro, such as a condo in Hurricos and a Lizard Burger shack in the Skelos Badlands.
He also mentions having a house in Aquaria Towers, despite the fact that the entire area is underwater.
On more than one occasion, Moneybags has proven to be willing to aid villains and enemies if it involves making a profit.
If spoken to after activating the portal to Zephyr in Autumn Plains, he will say "Those darn birds in Zephyr never paid me for all the bombs and TNT barrels I gave them...", implying that he sold the Breezebuilders weapons for an assault on Zephyr.
In a similar fashion, during the cutscene in which Ripto steals the Power Gem from the portal in Winter Tundra, Ripto claims to have bought the bombs he used from Moneybags
