Ignitus was a Dragon of the Fire element who become a Guardian, presided over the Scalos Temple, and later served in the Inferno Battalion during the Great War. He is also famous for serving as one of the Chroniclers.

Time as a Fire Guardian

As a Fire Guardian, Ignitus' duties included lighting the torches and the incense in the temple, the prevention of the misuse of fire, and protecting and teaching the other Dragons—especially the young. While attending the temple, he also would sit at the scrying pool, where he would practice patience, and where visions sometimes came to him. One such vision caught Ignitus by surprise, as he was told by the Chronicler that he would have a son, destined to become a great Purple Dragon. In his disbelief, he ridiculed the idea, asking for proof—and as a consequence of his folly, Ignitus was sentenced to forget that he had ever known the news of his future son, remembering only in the moments before his death.

The Egg Raid

Ignitus and the other enlisted Guardians fought in the Dragon Army against Malefor's Dark Forces. All the Dragons were warned to keep their eggs and young hidden, and many of the eggs were brought to the Temples for refuge.

The Temple at the Golden Mushroom Swamp was later where Ignitus—alongside fellow-Guardians Volteer, Cyril, and Terrador—kept watch.

On the Night of the Egg Raid, Ignitus was standing over the Purple Dragon egg in amazement, when Volteer burst into the egg room and urged him to rescue the eggs: "Save them! The Dark Armies have come!" Ignitus looked around at the eggs, and knowing that he could not possibly save them all, took the Purple Dragon egg as the one egg he could safely and assuredly carry away with him. Following the Silver River for a time, Ignitus alighted at the river's bank, out of sight of the Temple. He looked around for a place to hide the egg, but after he saw that there was nothing suitable, he decided to fashion a carrier of sorts out of a mushroom cap, for sending the egg away downstream. Pushing the egg away, Ignitus said a prayer, and then turned to fly back to the Temple, bracing himself for what he might find. He was aghast at the scene of the other three Guardians overrun, and the grisly sight of the smashed eggs. Ignitus looked to see if any of the eggs there had been left intact, if any were still alive, but he only saw one—and that one egg was in the hands of an Ape. He tried to apprehend the thief, but ultimately collapsed in his exhaustion.

The Inferno Battalion

Ignitus led the Inferno Battalion. Witnessing many of the soldiers fall contributed to Ignitus' passion during the fights.

Alongside his young banner-bearer Pyra, Ignitus and his battalion were later reunited with three of the other Guardians. Ignitus and the remaining Dragon Army held back the enemy forces for some time, but just as the Dragons started to diminish the size of their foe, Cynder came into view. Cynder was what became of the egg stolen the Night of the Raid, and Ignitus "watched as she plucked the other Guardians from the fields of battle, like so many ripe grapes from a vine." After witnessing this, and the Apes' unveiling of their latest lethal weapon—among other horrors—Ignitus became separated from his battle squire Pyra in the confusion. Ignitus' war lance broke in two, but he continued to use it, till it became too splintered to be of great use to him, at which point he abandoned his weapon.

Several hours later, Ignitus watched as one of the defender knights flew over the ocean and was shot by the Draconnetric Cannon. Meeting with the wounded knight, Ignitus was offered the shards of his broken lance. Ignitus heard the knight mutter, attempting to give a message, but the only word he could make out was the one given in the knight's dying breath: "Pyra". Taking up his shattered lance and fleeing the Isles before Cynder could claim him, Ignitus flew for hours before landing at a cave in the Golden Mushroom Swamp. Here, Ignitus took refuge, mourning his squire, and praying for forgiveness.

Family

Ignitus was the son of Snorch. The widow Elizabeth had lost her family to the war, and Ignitus comforted her after the loss of her mate and her young, and they grew very close. Ignitus later got a vision while in the Scalos Temple, where the Chronicler told him that his wife Elizabeth would lay an egg. The prophecy proved true, despite Elizabeth being past her egg-laying years.

Meeting Spyro

Twelve years after the Egg Raid, Ignitus was met by Spyro and Sparx in the Swamp. Young Spyro was confused, and asked what species it was to which he and Ignitus belonged. Ignitus explained to Spyro and Sparx that they were Dragons, and told them of his time spent with the other Guardians watching over the eggs, and fighting against Cynder. Spyro asked to see where he came from, and Ignitus obliged, showing him and Sparx around the Swamp Temple.

Rescuing the Other Guardians

Ignitus was inspired by Spyro's eagerness and resilience, and when he came into the room with the scrying pool, he saw a vision: the Guardian Volteer, held captive at Dante's Freezer. Ignitus sent Spyro to rescue Volteer, which he did. Returning with Volteer, Spyro and Sparx were informed by Ignitus that he had a vision of the Ice Guardian Cyril imprisoned at Tall Plains. Ignitus' visions were shown true once again, and Sparx and Spyro returned to the Swamp with Cyril. Ignitus looked again for visions, and Volteer and Cyril agreed that the Temple felt empty without Terrador. Not only was Terrador's location revealed to him, but Ignitus also realized for what purpose Cynder had detained the Guardians: to use their power for the opening of the Convexus Portal, which was necessary for freeing Malefor.

After Ignitus told the news of his vision of Terrador—and of his revelation regarding Cynder's use of the crystals—Spyro and Sparx travelled to Munitions Forge, where they rescued Terrador. Cynder then burst out from the lava of Boyzitbig, holding the crystal with Terrador's sapped energy; Terrador tried to stop her, but he was weakened, so he fell to the ground when Cynder attacked him, pleading for Spyro to fly away. Just when Cynder had almost caught up to Spyro and Sparx, Ignitus appeared, catching her off course. A bitter in-flight fight ensued, and they both fell down, Cynder screaming. Spyro tried to defend Ignitus, but Terrador stopped him from doing so, and the three returned to the Temple.

Held at Concurrent Skies

Ignitus was taken by Cynder to Concurrent Citadel, which had become her Lair. Here he was—like the other three Guardians—held captive while his energy was being drained into a crystal, which Cynder intended to use to transfer energy to the Convexus Portal. Spyro and Sparx had been sent to Concurrent Skies by Terrador, who—after overhearing the Conductor say where Cynder's final preparations would take place—was certain that Ignitus was being held there. When Ignitus saw Spyro and Sparx approach him, he urged Spyro to quickly destroy the crystal, but once he saw that Cynder had gotten in the way of it, Ignitus changed his message, instead telling Spyro to save himself by running away.

Spyro fought Cynder, but she was left unscathed. After Cynder picked up the crystal, Ignitus was released from his shackles, and fell; getting up from the floor, he limped over to Sparx and Spyro. Ignitus told Spyro and Sparx the truth about what had happened the Night of the Raid, explaining his failure to save the lives of the eggs, and his failure to save Cynder from being egg-napped and used as a pawn of the Dark Master.

Seeing the explosion of light emitted from a portal to Convexity being set up by Cynder, Ignitus was afraid that they were too late to stop her from opening the Convexus Portal. Spyro insisted that it wasn't too late, and convinced Ignitus that he could at least try to stop Cynder. After Spyro and Sparx left through the portal, Ignitus said a prayer, and then returned to the Swamp.

Making Amends with Cynder

After Spyro and Sparx brought Cynder back to the Swamp with them, Ignitus told the other Guardians of his plans to take her in to the Temple. Terrador agreed with Ignitus, but Cyril argued against it; Volteer listed the pros and the cons, rambling on till Cyril relented. Ignitus told Cynder that he was sorry for what happened the Night of the Raid, and that he had always dreamt of the day when he would meet again with her, as an ally.

Defending the Swamp Temple

In the following weeks, Ignitus and the other Dragons fought to protect the Temple against various incursions. Spyro came up to Ignitus and said that he had had a vision of the armies attacking, and Ignitus told him to turn around, to see that his vision was right.

Abduction by the Scavengers

Sending Spyro away to Ancient Grove to seek out the tree from his vision, Ignitus had stayed behind, waiting for Cynder to return. After finding Cynder near the border of Beastmakers' and Artisans', both were knocked unconscious, and taken by the Scavengers to Fellmuth ship. Ignitus and Cynder were housed in the same cell together, but made to fight in the arena separately. While on board Fellmuth, Ignitus met Hunter, a Cheetah warrior from Avalar who informed him that the Ape King had placed a bounty on all Dragons.

A day came when Cynder fought but wasn't returned to the cell, so Ignitus flew into the arena area as soon as he could to look for her, instead finding Spyro in the confusion. He then created a diversion to help Spyro with escaping from the captors of the burning ship, and Ignitus later escaped, himself, carrying Hunter.

Return to Warfang

After they did not return to the temple following the Night of Eternal Darkness, Ignitus tasked Hunter with finding Sparx, Spyro, and Cynder. Malefor had escaped from his prison and lead his army against the Dragons, starting near Warfang. Ignitus had not been to Warfang since his vision of Spyro at the Scalos Temple. Here he gave his now-famous speech about perseverance and hope, despite circumstances. Three years were spent by Ignitus working with the other Guardians to defend the remaining population against Malefor's forces before he received a note from Hunter's Falcon with the news that Spyro, Sparx, and Cynder had been found and were alive.

Ignitus was overjoyed to see Hunter return with Sparx, Spyro, and Cynder.

Ignitus' Sacrifice and Death

While the Destroyer passed through it, the Belt of Fire was weakened, and Ignitus used this opportunity to get Spyro and Cynder through to Malefor. Ignitus drew in his breath and breathed out a fire shield for them, offering his protection. The shield didn't last for the duration of the crossing, however: it began to fade, and Ignitus suddenly remembered the prophecy told to him by the Chronicler in his vision 15 years ago: he again knew who was his son.

Ignitus explained that spell of his fire shield was not strong enough to withstand the Belt of Fire, and that he would use the last of his strength to expand the shield beyond, throwing them through the Belt to safety. Spyro pleaded him not to: "Ignitus! Without this spell you're going to die!" But Ignitus was set on it. "But... this was your life energy!" cried Spyro. "Ignitus, let's turn back! There's got to be another way!" "I've never done right by either of you," Ignitus told Spyro and Cynder. "Allow me to do this..." Spyro was shocked, but Ignitus continued, knowing what he must do.

Mustering the remainder of his energy, Ignitus sent his shield in a shockwave which pushed Cynder and Spyro out of the Belt of Fire, and in doing so, he died. He was aged 253. Cynder and Spyro looked back at the flames, and saw that he was gone. Spyro tried to fly back in to the Belt of Fire to search for Ignitus—and could have pulled Cynder in, with him—but Cynder held on to the ground and begged Spyro not to, saying that Ignitus would have wanted them to move on.

Time as Chronicler

After his death, Ignitus found himself in the Temple Sanctum in the White Isle's Celestial Caves, because he was chosen by the Ancient Ancestors to take on the duty of Chronicler. The Chronicler before him welcomed Ignitus and said that he had been waiting to meet him. After they had conversed for a few hours, the Chronicler told Ignitus that—after thousands of years—a New Age was finally beginning, and that—as with every New Age—there was a worthy Dragon chosen by the Ancient Spirit as a new Chronicler; that Dragon was Ignitus. As the honor was passed on, Ignitus asked about Spyro's current situation. Explaining that a new page is written in the Book of the Dead each time a Dragon dies, the Chronicler told Ignitus that he had yet to find any mention of Spyro in it. With the former Chronicler passing on, Ignitus saw that there was now a page for the former in the book. Ignitus wondered where Spyro might be, and took up Spyro's Life Book and read it.