Lore thread

[spiraldoor]

Unless you would like me to share you a link of my Rayman Collector. I'm doing videos of Rayman Designer's official levels by the way.

No thanks. I think I’d prefer to wait for an official re-release of some sort. Good luck with the level videos though – you may have to restart them quite a few times while recording because some of them are incredibly difficult.

 

[Haruka]

Unless you would like me to share you a link of my Rayman Collector. I'm doing videos of Rayman Designer's official levels by the way.

No thanks. I think I’d prefer to wait for an official re-release of some sort.

OK then. As you wish.

Good luck with the level videos though – you may have to restart them quite a few times while recording because some of them are incredibly difficult.

You bet, it's the first time I'm trying to pass the 24 levels for real and I'm really amazed with the difficulty level of the official levels. It isn't an impossible mission but I think I'm able to pass them with some patience. [At least as you might know, I have no problems playing Rayman 1]

Rayman 60 Niveaux Inédits, I already passed the 59 levels (1 is impossible due to a very grave glitch), each one with progressive difficulty levels (Very Easy, Easy, Easy Medium, Medium, Medium Hard, Hard and Very Hard) and I confess I hadn't trouble in passing all of them.

I will try to do the same task for Rayman By His Fans later, when I finish RD's and R60NI's videos.

 

[ParadoxJuice]

*peeks in*

Speaking of the entire "Razoff - a teensie or not" thing... Y'know, after comparing him to the grey teensies and especially to the three doctors, I remembered an old article about axolotls (a kind of salamander, if someone doesn't know) I read ages ago.
Axolotls usually stay in a larval stage during all their life, but can be induced to metamorphose and transform into an adult salamander (c). Perhaps same thing with the teensies, and there in fact is some kind of a "trigger" which can make them transform into big green "razoffs"?
Maybe this sounds like a crack theory, but it's only IMHO...

Also, the axolotl looks like a teensie.

 

[Julia_Patti]

Look quite similar indeed...

 

[Holy Crap]

Knaaren don't have hair.

On the contrary, I think Knaaren may actually have a thin covering of brownish fur on their face and possibly their body as well..
Look at this picture on the wiki.

https://raymanpc.com/wiki/en/File:R3-Knaaren.png

Despite the naturally poor lighting of the caves, there definitely appears to be some patchy brown fur or something on his face. The torso is covered by his cloak, however...

I can't find any good pictures, but here's a video of the second Battle with Reflux, before he becomes giant (courtesy of Haruka).
You'll notice that he also has a patchy covering of what appears to be brown fur covering his back and some other sections of his body. He also has some on his arms and legs, visible in both encounters. The other knaaren don't have this judging by the picture, but who knows, maybe they just shave (also accounting for Reflux's apparent lack of facial hair.)? Or perhaps he's just a bit more manly... Although I'm fairly certain Gumsi also has similar fur on his legs, and I think his arms as well. Look at this video to see what I mean:

So overall I'm fairly certain they have hair of some sort on at least parts of their bodies.

Also on the hoods, Reflux does not have a hood in the second encounter as seen in the video, nor does Gumsi. It's not like Knaaren's permanently have the hoods attached to their heads.

edit: come to think of it, their cloaks appear to be the same colour as their hair, and you dont see any other furry creatures in those caves. Maybe they utilise their own hairs to make clothing...

 

[Haruka]

It's these kind of questions that makes me feel wishing that Ubisoft could make a book about Rayman's games developments and its universe, like Oddworld Inhabitants company did. The book of Oddworld's games must be a pearl for the most obcessed fans.

 

[spiraldoor]

I’ve always thought the Knaaren’s skin looked quite leathery. I’ve never really wondered about those markings on their skin, though.

 

[Haruka]

Speaking about Knaarens, this is another thing I only noticed now:

Is it me, or the Knaaren in this statue has got the tongue out of the mouth?

 

[spiraldoor]

I think that the Tower of the Leptys may actually be a gigantic statue of a Knaaren with his hand raised to the sky.

 

[Haruka]

I think that the Tower of the Leptys may actually be a gigantic statue of a Knaaren with his hand raised to the sky.

Hmmm, I don't think so. Knaarens as far as I am aware, have only 3 fingers in each hand.

 

[razorbeard1999]

Its maybe... the super mega overlord four fingerd Knaaren


RANK UP!

 

[spiraldoor]

In Rayman 2, the Knowledge of the World says ‘No one knows from whence you came nor who your parents were.’

What can we conclude about Rayman’s parentage from what we’ve seen of Rayman Origins so far? It would seem that the ‘nymph’ who ‘weaves him together from the magnificent moonbeams of the second summer solstice’ is the closest thing he has to a mother. The narrator says that he was ‘woven together by us, the nymphs’, but we only see one nymph in the video. I assume that the reference to multiple nymphs was a holdover from an earlier version of the sequence. Does the narrator’s use of the word ‘us’ mean that the narrator is the nymph in the video? The narrator’s voiceover and the nymph’s squeaking sound different, but I’m not sure if that matters.

Should we read any significance into the fact that we was woven out of moonbeams? I think that’s where the name ‘Rayman’ comes from (canonically speaking). It does add a strange quality to the appearances of the two moons in the previous games, for me at least. Now I think of Rayman Origins whenever I see the moons in Rayman 1, 2 or 3. Hopefully the game will create more of these sorts of series-wide narrative ripples when it’s released, as they really do help on the believability end of things. I wonder if the involvement of the moons precludes Rayman from having a father?

Perhaps more importantly, is the nymph Betilla the Fairy? I think she is, and I would very much like to believe so, but I am not quite certain. I would be perfectly comfortable with them retconning away Betilla’s limblessness – as long as the nymph is Betilla, a strong link is created between the stories of Rayman 1 and Rayman Origins while adding new significance to her maternal nature in Rayman 1. If it’s not her, then we’ve got two very similar-looking fairies unnecessarily running around and an even bigger disconnect between Rayman 1 and the other games, with the odds further decreasing that we’ll ever see any of those characters again in any form.

I really do hope that they are the same character. If they’re not, then they really should be.

 

[Haruka]

I do believe that nymph is Betilla when she was younger. It is undiscussible the similarities that both designs (RO and R1) have. The chances of not being her can be very small, but I might be wrong.

I also think that the moonbeams explain the origin of Rayman's name, that was something that came to my mind the first time I saw the trailer.

We hopefully will quickly have our answers in the next two/three months, I can't wait to see some gameplay footage aswell playing it.

 

[Sabertooth]

Bump, but surely it's justified with the new game out and all.

I think that the topic of Globox's species should be further discussed. I'd say that "glute" is the official name, since that's what Bubble Dreamer calls him ("the biggest glute in the Glade"). There are also those hints from Rayman 3, but this all but confirms it. It seems there are people who claim otherwise though, so I'd like to hear from them too. Any thoughts?

Oh, and can somebody link me to the article/interview where they confirmed that Polokus and Bubble Dreamer are the same? I'm having a hard time believing it.

Oh right, and before I forget, Dark Globox vs. Glombrox. Who thinks that they are the same person, and why? I personally think that it's very possible, since they have similar appearances (dirty and dark-skinned glutes/Globoxes) and roles (final unlockable characters) but they also have differences, notably in their names. Anybody have an opinion on this? I honestly don't think we know enough to be sure yet, though.

I also think that we should be able to discuss the Magician thing here without spoiler tags, but I'll wait for actual permission before doing that.

 

[Rulez]

roles (final unlockable characters)

Your theory is nice, but if by Glombrox you mean the Zombie Globox, then you're right with this ^. However Dark Globox is not unlocked last unless you do so. The characters from Arena are unlockable in any order. And while your theory is nice (like I said), they look too different to each other.

 

[Sabertooth]

The characters from Arena are unlockable in any order.

Been a while since I've played that.

And while your theory is nice (like I said), they look too different to each other.

I couldn't help but bring it up. They're just so similar. But I guess their simultaneous existence is nothing more than a coincidence.

 

[spiraldoor]

The Dark Rayman and Dark Globox in Rayman M don’t really exist. It’s not a proper Rayman game.

 

[Sabertooth]

The Dark Rayman and Dark Globox in Rayman M don’t really exist. It’s not a proper Rayman game.

Oh. Well okay then.

 

[maxxyboy1000]

I believe the Leptys isn't really a god. (the word god has never been mentioned either in the game if my memory serves) Rather a demigod in fact. According to the knowledge of the world, even the Knaaren are creations of Polokus, perhaps made from a nightmare. Polokus is said to be the one who created the entire world and it's inhabitants. Perhaps the other gods are 'demigods' and have smaller purposes than Polokus himself. Somewhat like descendants with no power to create, but alter things, each worshipped by different races for their unique powers.

The Leptys is called "bringer of night", which would make me think he controls the daytime and nighttime of the world, and occasionally caused an eclipse, but not more. The Knaaren loved darkness, and started worshipping the Leptys for 'bringing the night' to them, allowing them to hunt in the desert outside. Eventually, they started to believe the Leptys created them, and from then on also nicknamed him "father of the knaaren people".

I agree with this. Leptys might have just been a mere creation of Polokus, and was worshipped for his power. He became, maybe more powerful, and maybe gained more of a crowd? So he became the ruler of the Knaaren.

That might explain this also:

Jano doesn't look so much like Polokus as he does the creatures in the Cave of Bad Dreams. That is to say he is identical to them, except larger and with a Polkus hat.
One of my theories on the matter is that after Polokus created the Cave of Bad Dreams to contain his nightmare-spawned creations, he found that some of them were finding ways to escape and had to keep sending them back. So, he cut a deal with one of the more intelligent and/or powerful nightmare creatures ie Jano; he would be allowed to dwell outside the Cave on the condition that he would prevent the others from doing so. The hat he wears signifies his rank and his link to Polokus.

That deal may have been to make Jano into a demigod also. Giving him the possession and control, over the Cave of Bad Dreams. He became the ruler there, and gained powers of his own!

I believe that when Polokus has a nightmare, the nightmare-creatures it produces are born into the Glade of Dreams, just like his normal dream-creatures are, and that it's Jano's job to track down the nightmares and imprison them, perhaps reshaping them all in his own form.

Perhaps Jano uses his influence to ensure that as many nightmares as possible are killed, so that their spirits will be sent to the Cave of Bad Dreams (which is analogous to the underworld/Hell/Hades/etc). Once there, their spirits become the mini-Janos. If this is the case, then Rayman may be indirectly serving Jano by slaying nightmares (which most of his enemies must be) and sending them to the Cave.

Again, more to prove my theory. Jano might have powers to manipulate some of Polokus' creations; or as mentioned above; they might start worshipping him, making them believe he created them, and that he commands them.
If the previous, however, is correct. Then we might assume that, before Jano was made powerful, it was Polokus' job to change the creatures of the cave of bad dreams, into those mini-janos. So, once 'the' Jano was made, Polokus might have simply passed down that task to him.
Or, as said, he might have to hunt and kill the nightmares himself. Which might lead one to believe that his 'powers' might only work in the Cave of Bad Dreams; much like how Polokus only has power on the land.

 

[Sabertooth]

This thread needs more activity. I recently joined another forum called DK Vine--maybe you've heard of it--and a big thing it has going on is reconciling the lore and timeline of the Donkey Kong universe. If there's one thing I've learned from it, it's that everything can be canon, and it's fun to mentally work out where everything fits. Yes, the Rayman series as of late does not concern itself with continuity, but why should that stop us, as fans, from having fun with the games' world?

Anyway, my point is, I wanna talk about lore more. I think a common acceptance around here is that every Rabbids game (sometimes with the exception of RRR or the GBA game) didn't happen. Here I'll make a case for every single Rabbids game and how they can be canon with the rest of the Rayman games.

The first Rabbids game can easily be placed either before or after the GBA version (with the DS version somewhere in there as well) while RRR2 explicitly takes place in our world, or Earth. Many people have taken issue with this, as nobody wants our boring human world to coexist with the fantastical Glade of Dreams, and hey, I agree! But Earth clearly takes place in an alternate universe separate from the Glade. As for why Rayman would concern himself with matters taking place there, well, he's a hero! He's dealt with the Rabbids before, and he doesn't want any other universes to become subjected to their idiocy. Just simple altruism is what got him involved this one. While the Wii version of the game lacks an ending, the DS version has a rather satisfactory one, so we'll go with that.

Then there's TV Party, and this one admittedly is a lot harder to reconcile. I guess the cleanest answer would be that it takes place sometime after RRR2 in the real world again as Rayman is trying to find a way back home, and while doing so, takes refuge in an abandoned cottage in the woods. The only issue I found with this is the anthropomorphic moles that obviously don't exist in our world, but since this version of our world features interdimensional travel with the Glade of Dreams, I'd say it's not out of the question to assume that there has been some leakage in the past, resulting in a few particular oddities. The DS version has the same premise only Rayman goes into the TV and stops them, so that game could cleanly take place shortly after the Wii one.

Every Rabbids game after this one takes place again in the real world. Rayman has given up on stopping the Rabbids and has found a way back to the Glade of Dreams, possibly with help from the humans after they caught wind of his exploits. Rabbids Go Home, Travel in Time, Alive and Kicking, Land, Rumble, Big Bang, Rabbids Invasion (the TV series), and Rabbids Invasion: The Interactive TV Show (the game based on the show) all take place sometime after TV Party and follow the Rabbids' misadventures on Earth post-Rayman. They take place in a different universe from the Glade, but still the same multiverse--that is to say, you could conceivably travel from one universe to the other, as shown by Rayman and the Rabbids.

Now for Academy of Champions: Soccer. My theory is as follows: The game takes place on Earth, meaning the Rabbids were already there, while the other Ubisoft characters were given interdimensional invitations from Brightfield Academy to their big soccer tournament. This confirms that the other franchises featured in this game also take place in the same multiverse. This also explains how the Rabbids could make appearances in other Ubisoft games such as Red Steel, Assassin's Creed, and Watch Dogs--all alternate universes separate from our own and the Glade of Dreams.

During all of this bullshit, Rayman Origins takes place back in the Glade of Dreams, followed by Jungle Run, Slap Flap and Go, Legends, Fiesta Run, and Adventures. Origins and Legends are big endeavors while Jungle/Slap/Fiesta are just Rayman and friends having fun in the Glade. I might be forgetting some other tertiary game from the Origins era, but I don't think I am.

The only games I have no interest in reconciling with the overall timeline are the ports, which are obviously just supposed to be the same adventures retold. Do you have any timeline or lore-related wanks you'd like to share? Please post them here, and I will also be sharing my thoughts on various facets of Rayman's world.