Rayman (character)
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| Rayman | |
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 Rayman, seen here in a promotional shot
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| Game series | Rayman series |
| First game | Rayman |
| Created by | Michel Ancel |
| Voiced by | David Gasman (video game) Billy West (series) Adam Caroleson (Raving Rabbids series & Anime) |
Rayman is the protagonist of the Rayman series created by Ubisoft game designer Michel Ancel. He first appeared in 1995 on the Atari Jaguar, PlayStation, Saturn and MS-DOS in Rayman where he had to defend his home from the clutches of Mr. Dark. In 1999, Rayman appears again to fight against Admiral Razorbeard and the Robo-Pirates in Rayman 2. In 2003, Rayman dealt with André, the leader of the Black Lums in Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc. He reappears two years later to rescue his best friend Globox in Rayman: Hoodlums' Revenge. More recently, Rayman has returned in the Wii party games Rayman Raving Rabbids and Rayman Raving Rabbids 2. He is currently Ubisoft's official mascot.
[edit] Appearance
From 1995 onwards, Rayman has had his appearance changed slightly for each game, possibly to make him look older. He is typically found wearing white gloves, a red scarf (or hood as seen in Rayman 3), a purple shirt with a white "O" on it, and yellow sneakers. The O appears to have magical properties. Whenever he earned a new power in Rayman (video game), sparkles would appear around the O; in Rayman 2, it was used to open the stones holding the masks. While he appears to have no arms or legs, his feet and hands are some how connected to him but can be removed and reattatched. Rayman is made up of electoons as shown in the first game. When he dies millions of electoons burst from his body.
However, he has been known to change appearance, beginning from Rayman 3 onwards. While the different "combat fatigues" only caused changes to Rayman's hair, shirt, and shoe color, players in Rayman Raving Rabbids are able to dress Rayman in a variety of costumes. They start with the choices of Disco, Gangsta, and Granny. As more mini-games are unlocked, other costumes, such as Rock 'n' roll, DJ, Gothic, and Bunny become available. Even more costumes, such as Hippie, Dracula, and Caveman, are added in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2.
[edit] Abilities
Rayman has a few unique powers that he retains at all times, mainly those granted to him by Fairies. First of all is the far reach of his fists. Being limbless, Rayman is able to launch long range punches at his enemies. He does not display this in Rayman 2, instead throwing energy spheres at his enemies. However, Rayman 2 is the only game where he retains this power; he uses his fists to attack once again in Rayman 3. In Rayman Raving Rabbids, players use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to control his movements rather than attacks due to the mini-game based nature. Another well-known power of his is the ability to use his hair to not only glide, but also use as a mini-helicopter. Most of the time, Rayman is unable to ascend. However, in certain situations where he is given an extra boost, he is able to power it up and go wherever he pleases.
Rayman 3 introduced power-ups known as "combat fatigues" or "Laser Washing Powder". These not only changed Rayman's appearance, they give him a specific move depending on the can he picks up. There are five of these in total, known as the Vortex (ability to lower certain platforms), Heavy Metal Fist (powerful metal fists able to knock down big obstacles), Lockjaw (grabs onto lums and electrocute enemies), Shock Rocket (hand-guided rocket able to reach far away targets), and Throttle Copter (helicopter). However, these powers are only present in Rayman 3 and have not been mentioned in any other game to date. (refer to Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc)
Additionally, in Rayman 3 a being called the Leptys gave him the power to transform Black Lums into Red Lums. This consists of Rayman making a ridiculous face. Actually, Rayman could make funny faces in the first game. This wasn't very useful, though he was able to scare some of the more coward hunters in the jungle with that face.
[edit] Biography
Not much is known about Rayman's past. Supposedly he was found by fishermen on a beach by the Sea of Lums. In Rayman 2 this idea is further elaborated on when Rayman is revealed to be the only creature living in the world who was not dreamed up by Polokus, as well as the only person who can convert the Silver Lums made by the Fairies into powers. It is speculated (in the game) that Rayman could in fact be a 'chosen one' selected by all the gods of all the worlds, destined to fight against evil. Despite this, Rayman has not allowed it to dampen his views on life and continues to be witty and rather energetic.
The games take place in seemingly unconnected areas. The original, 2-D Rayman games take place in what is called Rayman's home world - a world that is kept stable by the Great Protoon. Most of the games after that take place in a seemingly different, more realistic world of a god named Polokus, while the Raving Rabbids take place in more contemporary settings and eventually Earth itself. The Protoon has not been spoken of in the games since, so whether or not these settings are of the same world or different ones remains a mystery.
His original story from the Atari Jaguar version of Rayman claims he was originally a boy named Jimmy, brought into his game and set in a world called Hereitscool to fight the evil. This idea was quickly abandoned, before the game's Jaguar release. Rayman would remain a mysterious figure in his own world in all final releases. However, lots of people think Jaguar version was released with original story.
Throughout his adventures, Rayman has accumulated a number of allies. These include bumbling Globox, helpful flying fairy-fly Murfy, the numerous Teensies, and mystical Ly the Fairy, who has oddly not been seen since Rayman 2 except as a statue in Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc. (See List of characters in Rayman for more information.)
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