- “Brace for the Mace!”
- —Wham-Shell's official catchphrase
Wham-Shell is a red crustacean who is one of the playable Skylanders in the Skylanders franchise, first appearing in Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure.
Character Development
According to Gameplay Designer Nah Loh, Wham-Shell has one of the saddest typos in all of Skylander upgrades, but introducing interesting vocabulary in Skylander upgrades was very important to Nat. Him being exposed to new words was something Nat thought he could bring into the Skylander universe. Wham-Shell represents the very extreme of this. The Skylander's primary ability is called the Malacostacan Mace which should be Malacostracan Mace after the taxonomic class malacostra under the subphylum of crustacea which crabs belong to. Another funny typo is the upgrade Mega Trident which was an oversight, since Wham-Shell originally had a trident as his weapon. Then there are pseudo-Latin upgrades such as Starfishicus Gigantus which may go against the whole "educating with words" goal but they were meant to be fun even if they ended up being confusing.[2]
Background
Personality
Regal and heroic, Wham-Shell never forgets the common clams and protects the seas for all his worth.[3] As the son of an underwater king, he isn't used to being refused anything.[4] It is also said that he is usually a pretty together kind of guy.[5]
Biography
Wham-Shell was ruler of a kingdom deep in the oceans of Skylands that, for a long time, lived peacefully. That is, until his underwater utopia was invaded by a legion of oil-drilling trolls that scattered his people to the wind. Armed with a powerful mace that had been handed down from one king to the next for generations, Wham-Shell defeated the greedy trolls and drove them away. Soon after, he joined the Skylanders to help defend against this type of atrocity ever happening again.
Story
History
Skylands sea shanties tell of a crustacean king called Roland, who ruled over beautiful bubble buildings and priceless pearl pastures. Good King Roland had ruled peacefully throughout his reign, but tragedy was about to strike. The trolls had arrived. They began by building rigs and platforms to pump oil from the ocean bottom. Soon, they became even greeder and sent their submarines to invade this undersea realm. Roland's son, Wham-Shell, was sent into a spluttering rage. He collected the magical mace of the giant clam kings and swam to the surface to shatter the trolls' equipment into a million smithereens. Wham-Shell's successful skirmish soon reached the ears of Master Eon. Right there and then, he made the crafty crustacean a Skylander and king protector of all the seas.[6]
Skylanders: Gill Grunt and the Curse of the Fish Master
Wham-Shell and Zap were called by Master Eon to assist Gill Grunt when the Gillman was about to eaten alive by a rampaging Cloud Kraken. They both saved Gill Grunt and attempted to stop the Cloud Kraken, only to make the beast turn its blind fury upon a pirate ship called the Fearsome Fang and its crew. The ship's captain, Grimslobber, mysteriously scared off the Cloud Kraken without having to do a thing, confusing Gill Grunt, Zap, and Wham-Shell.
Zap, Gill Grunt, and Wham-Shell being surrounded by Captain Grimslobber and his pirates
When Grimslobber called Gill Grunt names to try and fick a fight, Wham-Shell was the first to defend his fellow Skylander before Zap, but was calmed down by Gill Grunt as they didn't want any trouble with the captain and his band of pirates. Zap then unintentionally asked them about a treasure one of the pirates accidentally blurted out, prompting the seemingly friendly Grimslobber to surround the Water Skylanders with his crew and attack them. Gill Grunt, Zap, and Wham-Shell narrowly escaped the Fearsome Fang and dove into the safety of the sea, leaving Grimslobber to swear vengeance.
The Water Skylanders then hear from Spyro that Kaos was after the Water Fragment as well, and Gill Grunt quickly lead his fellow Water Skylanders to the Kingdom of the Merpeople, knowing that the merpeople, who have swam the waters for thousands of years, would know the location of the fragment. The Skylanders discovered the kingdom was deserted, with only the elderly, children, King Scalebeard, Prince Aquan, and Princess Finella still within the kingdom's barrier. Suddenly Prince Aquan and Princess Finella fell under a strange trance and swam out of the kingdom along with several other merfolk, and the Skylanders followed them in hot pursuit to see where they were going. With the help of Zap's speed, the Water Skylanders were able to keep up with the merfolk, avoiding a swarm of electro-jellies along the way. During the chase, Wham-Shell mysteriously had fallen under a spell and turned on Gill Grunt and Zap, capturing Zap after knocking the water dragon nearly unconscious with his starfish bullets and dragging him into a cave where the hypnotized merfolk went into.
The crustacean prince was later revealed to be under the control of Captain Grimslobber, who was using the Fish Master's Crown to force the merfolk into digging out the gem-eels and hauling them to the surface so that could become rich. Gill Grunt was able to free himself from the curse with the help of Zap, causing Grimslobber to lose control over a portion of the merpeople and Wham-Shell. During the confusion, Wham-Shell was freed from the curse and released the gem-eels, causing Grimslobber loses his hold on the Crown, and it shattered on the ocean floor into two pieces, fully freeing the merfolk. As the pirate captain made a hasty retreat, Wham-Shell followed after Gill Grunt back onto the deck of the Fearsome Fang along with Zap. With the help of the freed merfolk, and even Spyro, the Water Skylanders bested Grimslobber and his pirate crew.
Wham-Shell under Grimslobber's control
Grimslobber pulled out a pistol and attempted to kill Gill Grunt, when the captain was knocked overboard and eaten alive by the Cloud Kraken. Kaos then revealed his presence, having recovered the pieces of the broken Fish Master's Crown that supposedly contained the Water fragment. After taunting the Skylanders, the evil Portal Master made his leave but not before sinking the Fearsome Fang, causing Spyro, Gill Grunt, Zap, and Wham-Shell to quickly escape off of Grimslobber's sinking ship via portal.
Back at the Eternal Archives, it seemed the Skylanders had failed their mission to retrieve the Water fragment, when Gill Grunt checked Grimslobber's satchel he brought back with him and held a dirty rag the captain had used to wrap the Fish Master's Crown. The rag soon revealed itself to be the Water Fragment, making the Skylanders realize that Kaos had stolen nothing more than a worthless broken crown. Knowing that Kaos would be after the next fragment to the Mask of Power, the Skylanders would be ready for him...
Abilities
Using his mace, which is called the Troll Cracker (originally called the Claw Cracker due to him defeating the trolls), Wham-Shell can release an electricity discharged from mace's spiked tip. He can also strike his enemies with his mace and release pulses of water from it.
Stats
These are the starting and maximum statistics for this Skylander in the console version of the games.
- Health: 300 (max. 600)
- Speed: 50 (max. 98)
- Armor: 18 (max. 88)
- Critical Hit: 30 (max. 80)
- Elemental Power: 25 (max. 100)
Warning: These stats are not used in any of the Skylander games. They are only listed for completeness reasons.
- Strength: 75
- Agility: 25
- Defense: 90
- Luck: 60
Powers and Upgrades
| Basic Abilities These abilities are available from the start of the game. |
Soul Gem Ability Requires Soul Gem from: Oilspill Island |
| Malacostacan Mace | Starfish Bullets | Carapace Plating | ||
 Primary Ability |
 Secondary Ability |
 Price: 4000 |
Basic Upgrades
Skylanders can buy new abilities from Persephone.
| Starfishicus Giganticus | King's Mace | Starfishicus Superioralis | Poseideon Strike | |||
 Price: 500 |
 Price: 700 |
 Price: 900 |
 Price: 1200 |
Captain Crustacean
This upgrade path lets Wham-Shell further develop his skills with the Mace.
| Crustacean Combos | Mega Trident | Mace of the Deep | ||
 Price: 1700 |
 Price: 2200 |
 Price: 3000 |
Commander Crab
This upgrade path lets Wham-Shell further develop his Starfish attack.
| Triplicate Starfish | Semi-Eternal Pursuit | Nightmare Huggers | ||
 Price: 1700 |
 Price: 2200 |
 Price: 3000 |
Skylanders gain new abilities automatically based on their level.
Starting Powers
- Crab Crunch (Primary Attack): Strike with your mace.
- Shooting Starfish (Secondary Attack): Shoot a starfish. Enemies hit by a starfish will be damaged and stunned.
Upgrades
- Unknown (requires level: 4): (add game description here)
- Unknown (requires level: 7): (add game description here)
- Unknown (requires level: 10): (add game description here)
Minigame Abilities
Skylanders get special abilities in minigames based on their element.
| Sky Defense | Castle Assault | Ground Defense | ||
 Freeze enemies in range so they cannot move for a certain time. |
 Launch a projectile that splits the projectile in three ice spikes. |
 Freeze enemies in range so they can't move for a certain time. |
Quotes
Battle Cries
- "Brace for the Mace!"
- "Shell shocked!"
- "My numbers are sweating." - When Checking Stats Info
- "My strength is growing!" - When checking Stats Info
- "Nice hat. It should look good underwater." - When Given a hat
- "This will make a great swimming cap." - When given a hat
- "A worthy name." - When given a nickname
- "A wise choice" - When given a nickname
- "A water wonderland!" - When entering a Water elemental gate
- "Here I go!" - Bounce pad
Character Trailers
Gallery
- Main article: Wham-Shell/Gallery
Trivia
- Before Giants, Wham-Shell and Legendary Trigger Happy were the only Skylanders to be in a single pack.
- While in water, Wham-Shell rides his mace like a witch riding a broomstick.
- In Spyro's Adventure, Wham-Shell is the only Water Skylander who does not have an evil counterpart in boss battles.
- His razor-sharp teeth don't stay so perfectly white by themselves. Wham-Shell brushes them up to fourteen times a day with a toothbrush carved from coral and toothpaste made from mashed fish scales.[7]
- Amongst all water Skylanders, Wham-Shell is the only one whose main color is not blue.
References
- ↑ Chris Parson's official website.
- ↑ Senior character Gameplay designer. Nat Loh Website.
- ↑ Skylanders Universe: The Complete Collection, page 195
- ↑ Skylanders: Gill Grunt and the Curse of the Fish Master, page 72
- ↑ Skylanders: Book of Elements - Fire and Water, page 64
- ↑ Skylanders Official Sticker Book, page 19
- ↑ Skylanders Universe: Book of Elements - Fire and Water, page 54
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