My theory

[Sabertooth]

I think the R2 manual suggested that there were many minor feats he had done before Mr. Dark.

I never considered that, but under my theory it's perfectly possible for him to have done all sorts of heroic things on both locations, both prior to and after the events of R1.

That does make sense. After all, why would they just choose Rayman out of nowhere to save the world? He wasn't really referred to as "the chosen one" or whatever until R2.

[L.M. Murphy]

There seem to be two 12s on the list. Also I have a 12.5.

12.5:
Mr. Dark, having survived the battle, attacks the Glade of Dreams with his limbless army. Rayman destroys Mr. Dark, and Mr. Dark's spirit is banished.

[Hunchman801]

Nice theory! Not that I agree with everything (some of it being quite far-fetched) but at least it makes perfect sense to me. There's only one thing: Bad Rayman is just a spell, and Dark Rayman is just a skin. They're all but alive in my opinion (but I don't think your theory is in contradiction with that).

[Acarr]

When Rayman dies in R1, his body turns into electoons. When Rayman dies in R2, his body turns into Lum-like orbs. (I suspect this has something to do with the destruction of the Protoon-Heart.) Anyway, I don't think Rayman is made of electoons, I just think his form decays into them when he dies. That could be another sort of particle physics reference; particle decay; electrons, electoons, you know.

But then in R3 he flies up into the sky...

[spiraldoor]

Nice theory! Not that I agree with everything (some of it being quite far-fetched) but at least it makes perfect sense to me. There's only one thing: Bad Rayman is just a spell, and Dark Rayman is just a skin. They're all but alive in my opinion (but I don't think your theory is in contradiction with that).

I was planning to mention the Dark/Bad Rayman in Arena in a previous post, but I forgot about it. I've edited it in now.

Under my theory, it makes sense that there would be multiple Dark Raymen; they may be created through different means, or for different purposes, but at the end of the day they're all expressions of the same thing: Rayman's forgotten dark side.

When Rayman dies in R1, his body turns into electoons. When Rayman dies in R2, his body turns into Lum-like orbs. (I suspect this has something to do with the destruction of the Protoon-Heart.) Anyway, I don't think Rayman is made of electoons, I just think his form decays into them when he dies. That could be another sort of particle physics reference; particle decay; electrons, electoons, you know.

But then in R3 he flies up into the sky...

I thought he collapsed in on himself, like a massive star forming a black hole at the end of its life, as opposed to the nova of energy he formed when dying in R2. I haven't played R3 in ages.

~I've made a map showing where I think the R3 locations are on the Glade of Dreams. It's nothing fancy, just getting my thoughts across. I put TFC in the Fairy Glade (that one seemed obvious), CLF near the Woods of Light, I put TBOM, DOTK and LOTLD near each other, because according to an old official R3 announcement, those three areas are part of something called "the Underlands", and I think this means they should be fairly close. LOTLD is on the coast, obviously. I probably would have put BOM near the Marshes of Awakening, but that clashed with the official Underlands thing. I also considered putting TBOM near TSOSAF (due to its "Umber Swamp" name), but that didn't make sense, as TBOM clearly isn't in a mountainous region like TSOSAF is. I decided that the Underlands could only really by the barren eastern region which seems to feature nothing except the TTOTA. This was also the only area on the map where I felt a massive desert like DOTK could exist, as it's quite far from any non-barren R2 locations.

EDIT: Disregard what I just said about the Bog of Murk being far from the Marshes of Awakening. It's not. Click here for more info.

I put TLS near the Fairy Glade, and I accounted for the sea-trip between TLS and TSBTC. I also put TSBTC very close to HHQ, and HHQ very close to TTOTL, as R3 shows that these areas are quite near.

You'll also notice I've emphasised what I think it the island on which R1 takes place...I think I'll post a detailed map of the R1 area tomorrow.

[PluMGMK]

When Rayman dies in R1, his body turns into electoons. When Rayman dies in R2, his body turns into Lum-like orbs. (I suspect this has something to do with the destruction of the Protoon-Heart.) Anyway, I don't think Rayman is made of electoons, I just think his form decays into them when he dies. That could be another sort of particle physics reference; particle decay; electrons, electoons, you know.

But then in R3 he flies up into the sky...

Read the post you quoted. Disturbance of the Electoons caused him to burst into Electoons and disturbance of the Lums caused him to burst into Lums. In R3, there was no disturbance, so he kept his original form.

[Acarr]

When Rayman dies in R1, his body turns into electoons. When Rayman dies in R2, his body turns into Lum-like orbs. (I suspect this has something to do with the destruction of the Protoon-Heart.) Anyway, I don't think Rayman is made of electoons, I just think his form decays into them when he dies. That could be another sort of particle physics reference; particle decay; electrons, electoons, you know.

But then in R3 he flies up into the sky...

Read the post you quoted. Disturbance of the Electoons caused him to burst into Electoons and disturbance of the Lums caused him to burst into Lums. In R3, there was no disturbance, so he kept his original form.

That's an interesting way to put it.

[spiraldoor]

Read the post you quoted. Disturbance of the Electoons caused him to burst into Electoons and disturbance of the Lums caused him to burst into Lums. In R3, there was no disturbance, so he kept his original form.

Neither of those things (disturbance of the electoons or lums) cause Rayman to "burst" into anything. His body just disintegrates when he dies. He doesn't turn into lums in R2, he turns into balls of light that vaguely resemble them. The same thing happens when he touches a Mask or takes Polokus's portal to the Prison Ship. I think his body turns into electoons when the Protoon/Heart is intact (i.e., R1), and turns into energy when the Protoon/Heart is not intact (i.e., R2). In R3, he seems to be sucked into his own body as it collapses in on itself. I think different energy levels in his body and in his world cause different deaths for him, rather like stars. That is all.

[PluMGMK]

He doesn't collapse on himself, he gets sucked upwards, piece by piece. Maybe he turns into Electoons, we just don't see them.

[spiraldoor]

I was always under the impression that his body parts were sucked into him one at a time. Then again, I died in R3 only when I tried very hard to, and did not have many chances to examine this phenomenon.

[PluMGMK]

It's the same mechanic as when he gets sucked upwards for the shoe, only he doesn't stop. The sound effect is the same too.

[spiraldoor]

I think that Rayman's shoe goes crazy in R3 because being seperated from him at the end of R2 damaged it. Or was that the other shoe?

[PluMGMK]

Maybe. Anyway, we're not talking about the shoe here. We're talking about Rayman's death mechanic in R3.

[spiraldoor]

He turns into electoons and shoots up in R1. It seems reasonable to assume the same happens in R3, even if the transformation happens off-screen.

[PluMGMK]

Isn't that what I said a few posts ago?

[spiraldoor]

Isn't that what I said a few posts ago?

How perceptive of you.

[L.M. Murphy]

Another thing about R1: When Rayman touches an instant-death tile (such as supersharp spikes), he simply vanishes after hopping a bit. The same is true when he dies in R3 GBA.

In Rabbids GBA, he implodes on himself. In Rayman GBC, he flies up as a ring of five orbs and vanishes.

[spiraldoor]

Another thing about R1: When Rayman touches an instant-death tile (such as supersharp spikes), he simply vanishes after hopping a bit. The same is true when he dies in R3 GBA.

In Rabbids GBA, he implodes on himself. In Rayman GBC, he flies up as a ring of five orbs and vanishes.

Yes...it seems that Rayman's soul is sort of freed when he dies out in the open, but when he dies while trapped on those spikes, his body turns to energy and flickers out... We could get very deep here...

Now, I've made a couple of images showing how that island I pointed out in my above map could be the R1 island. Here:



Image 1 is Mister Dark on his perch, viewing the R1 island across the sea with his binoculars (arrow 1 is the direction he's looking in). Image 2 is the view you'd see while looking in the direction of arrow 2.

Here's a map of the R1 worlds on the island, colour-coded for your convenience:



The R1 intro shot of the valley blatantly contradicts the R1 world map. But since the valley shot is an animation and the world map is a still image, the valley shot is fairly well-proportioned while the map screen is full of caricatures and exaggerations of sizes, the intro is part of the story while the map screen is just a game mechanic, also the map screen is being seen through the possibly-distorting lenses of Mister Dark's binoculars, and only a small piece of it is ever meant to be seen at any given time...so I chose the valley shot as the main basis for my map. However, I did try to make it contradict the map screen as little as possible.

My theories don't rely on the above maps being accurate. I just thought they'd be fun and/or interesting for anyone who still cares about Rayman...thoughts?

[Sabertooth]

Image 1 is Mister Dark on his perch, viewing the R1 island across the sea with his binoculars (arrow 1 is the direction he's looking in). Image 2 is the view you'd see while looking in the direction of arrow 2.

Here's a map of the R1 worlds on the island, colour-coded for your convenience:



The R1 intro shot of the valley blatantly contradicts the R1 world map. But since the valley shot is an animation and the world map is a still image, the valley shot is fairly well-proportioned while the map screen is full of caricatures and exaggerations of sizes, the intro is part of the story while the map screen is just a game mechanic, also the map screen is being seen through the possibly-distorting lenses of Mister Dark's binoculars, and only a small piece of it is ever meant to be seen at any given time...so I chose the valley shot as the main basis for my map. However, I did try to make it contradict the map screen as little as possible.

My theories don't rely on the above maps being accurate. I just thought they'd be fun and/or interesting for anyone who still cares about Rayman...thoughts?

Not bad, and I also realize that it's possible that Rayman Raving Rabbids on GBA may have also taken place in that valley. It's likely considering he goes to the Dream Forest, goes to places very similar to Candy Chateau and maybe Picture City, and a robot is based off of Antitoons. There are also Livingstones and (for some reason) robotic Electoon Hunters.

[Holy Crap]

Your initial map is good, especially how not only is TBOM near the amrshes but also TLATLD is near the tomb oif the ancientz.