Rayman 2

[Haruka]

Well, it is one of the known elements in the Glade that make characters shrink in size, like the Blue Elves, the trumpets of RO/RL and the tunnels from RRR GBA.

[Master]

Well, it is a requirement for 100% completion, seeing as the shrinking is needed to access certain areas, so yup, I've been aware of it. Isn't it a reference to Alice in Wonderland, or something?

[Haruka]

It could be a pun for the Super Mario franchise.

[Master]

Hmm, true. Though I vaguely recall there being some item in the Wonderland book referring to an item (I think it was a cake), that said "Eat me," perhaps it's a double reference?

[spiraldoor]

Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table: she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words "EAT ME" were beautifully marked in currants. "Well, I'll eat it," said Alice, "and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key; and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door; so either way I'll get into the garden, and I don't care which happens!"

This time Alice waited patiently until it chose to speak again. In a minute or two the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth and yawned once or twice, and shook itself. Then it got down off the mushroom, and crawled away into the grass, merely remarking as it went, "One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow shorter."

"One side of what? The other side of what?" thought Alice to herself.

"Of the mushroom," said the Caterpillar, just as if she had asked it aloud; and in another moment it was out of sight.

The thing in Revolution is certainly a jumbled reference to both of these scenes, and probably to the elves in the first game.

[Haruka]

Then it is definitely something to consider in placing in the correspondent article as a trivia.

[Master]

Huh, I'm pretty sure it was on some Wiki that I first read about that reference, curious.

[spiraldoor]

I probably added it there.

[Shrooblord]

Shocked by this terrible news, Rayman is surprised by a gigantic robot who pins him between its powerful pinchers.

I do wonder who this robot could be.

[Master]

Part of me thinks that someone goofed and thought Razor already had the Grolgoth, given the Grolgoth fits the description.

[Shrooblord]

I wanted to think that too, but I'd like to fantasise about what robots actually are there behind the Henchman lines of primary offense.

[Master]

That's reasonable, I like to think that the Henchman 1000 models are like Generals of the Robo Pirate army, being older and more experienced models.

[Shrooblord]

Oh.

An evil laugh reverberates. Rayman turns and sees Razorbeard, the leader of the Pirates. "I have you, Rayman! You'll soon be my most obedient slave!..."

I think you're right - it's a gigantic robot that pins Rayman down and then a laugh is heard reverberating inside of it. It must be the Grolgoth then. Hah, that's silly.
===

I just read up on Foutch on the RayWiki (of course) and followed a video on the Foutch battle in the PS1 version. Although I severely dislike the voice acting done in the PS1 (I just don't feel that the voices, however good they may be, match with the characters they were picked out to do), I was quite enjoying Foutch's dialogue with Rayman.

And this led me to a new theory. Foutch is heard saying

You, are you Rayman? The Mask thief?!

Foutch not only somehow knows Rayman, but also that he's been collecting the Four Masks. This means the Guardians must share some kind of connection, be that psychic, or energetic, or... Foutch felt the presence of Axel and Umber drop as they were in one way or another destroyed in Rayman's collecting of the two Masks that precede Foutch's. His brothers have fallen and now he is alone, this intruder that slayed his kindred inside his holy sanctum. What is he there to do? Well, to collect the Mask, he says. Collect the Mask... slay the Guardian.

Foutch isn't crazy; he's scared for his life! He fights Rayman because he believes he will end him to get to the Mask. And he's right too! He defends his home in the only way he can: with fire. And because fire is so naturally uncontrollable, everyone conceives him as this lunatic that just lobs fireballs at everyone's face. But he's not. He's helpless and afraid of death. He's just trying to make a life for himself and then he gets destroyed for it...

RIP Foutch (THE BEGINNING-1999)
Such a warm spirit
Never forget

[Master]

Your perspectives never cease to intrigue, Shroobie. It's a very neat idea indeed, the problem with your theory however is that it's overlooking the continuity of the PS1 version. Umber actively helps Rayman in the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire, not only by letting him pass through the lava passage, but by also telling him the weakness of the Ninja Pirates. His helpfulness stems from Ly having telepathically communicated with him.

Ly attempts to do the same with Foutch, who is stated to have gone crazy with the explosion of the Heart of the World, his awareness of Rayman could simply stem from this communication.

[Shrooblord]

o

That I didn't know, seeing as I never played the game past the first level, at which point the voice acting in the intro had put me off so much I gave up on it outright. I just couldn't help but not like Ly's voice - it just doesn't fit her. And it was alright from an acting perspective, but... it just wasn't Ly to me. Then Rayman and Globox came along and I couldn't think of spending an entire game with those voices, sadly. I'd be too annoyed to enjoy the game I love most in my life. So I had to put down the controller and stop.

==
Still, would you happen to be able to link me to the Ly connecting to him? Because I don't know if she also tells him that Rayman collected the other Masks, or if Foutch really learned this from another ethereal plane.

[Master]

Sadly, they never show the conversation itself, Rayman is merely informed of the events via the Teensies:

[Shrooblord]

Oh, is that all? Hrmmm... my plotting continues:

The Pirates exploding the Heart of the World sends a great shockwave of distress through every being on the planet; we know that to be true. The Guardians, forged from Polokus's mind to protect the most holy of unworldy artefacts, feel this too. Perhaps Foutch already had a bit of a volatile personality - it's kind of in his nature. His anxiety increases and he goes paranoid. He exiles himself inside his temple and rampant growth takes
over - the Nettles have infested everything*)! Ly attempts to calm him down, but Foutch won't listen. In his madness, he can no longer distinguish right from wrong: his friends, too, are now his enemies. Then, when he learns of this thief that has gone about and caused the destruction of his brothers, he stands his ground - read above.

You see, the Teensies say Ly just tried reasoning with him, try to calm him down. There's no real reason she'd have mentioned Rayman. And all Foutch knows is
1) His kin are dying.
2) Rayman is there when they do.
3) The Masks are taken.
4) He guards a Mask of his own.
It fills his heart with terror! Axel died by the hands of a mighty warrior and Umber was brainwashed by his Fairy friend into killing himself for
Rayman - and now she tried talking to him too! This menace, surely, must be the evil that is the destroyer of his kind, of his whole world.

Indeed, the Heart of the World has made Foutch go insane, but I still believe there is the possibility for him to have deducted what Rayman was from some connection between the Guardians and the Masks.

But that's just a theory.

*= spoilers...

[Snagglebee]

Wow, now I see Rayman 2 in a whole new perspective. I would never ever have thought about that all .

[Master]

Hmm, that's definitely a solid way to keep the theory grounded while keeping what's been stated in mind. Nice one, Shroob.

[PrincessAmber]

Shroob you're an absolute genius oh my god.