Rayman Pirate-Community

While I was browsing around the internets, I came across this page, which is a supposed list of interesting Rayman facts, starting with "Did you know...?" and listing a whole bunch of stuff. Most of what was on the list is well-known to Rayman fans...but there are several things that I'd never heard of before, which I'm sure you'll all find quite interesting... The following is a list of all the information that was listed on the page, with commentary from me. Enjoy:

Rayman has no limbs because the graphics team that made the first game found that if the limbs stayed, they would take up 20 times more graphic space than it would if he had the limbs. There are strange looking objects in Rayman 2 for Dreamcast and Rayman Revolution. The one in the Dreamcast is seen in the water at the beginning where the log is (only when the game's completed), and the one in Revolution is at the end in the trees.

True; confirmed in Rayman Zone.

Tily's real hair color is red-brown, although some pictures show her with purple hair.

This is correct.

The character of Rayman in Rayman 2 was designed by French artist Jean-Michael Papal.

New information?! See my analysis below.

That a rumor about the first game, Rayman, said that Rayman was actually a twelve year old kid who had somehow transformed into superhero Rayman? Mondo weird!

True; confirmed in Rayman Zone.

That "RaymanM" had to be changed to "Rayman Arena", because someone was sure to think the "M" stood for M rating "mature".

True; confirmed in Rayman Zone.

That Rayman's eyes are actually dark blue?

True. You can see this on the Revolution cover if you look closely.

That some of the official pictures show Rayman's split frond on the wrong side of his head?

Yes, official images sometimes get flipped.

That in the PS version of the first game, Betilla never gets rescued? It happened in mine, I never knew what happened to that green and yellow fairy after the Cave of Skops.

Yes...this is correct. You never see Rayman rescuing her.

That Rayman switched favorite words? EG: First game: "YEAH!" Second game: "YAHOO!"

Pointless detail, but true...

That even though Rayman's limbless, he had openings in his shoes for his "legs" to go through? The picture is on the cover of the Rayman Gold CD that comes with the Rayman Designer game.

Yes, this is true.

That Rayman and Ly's purple colors are changed to blue in Japan, because in Japan and China, the color purple represents the color of the dead.

True; confirmed in Rayman Zone.

That Ly's eyes are green?

True.

That Rayman Multiplayer is called "Rayman Arena" in the US, and "Rayman M" in Europe?

Yes...

That Ly was originally a Princess from the Island of Phrys? For some reason Ubi omitted that from the Rayman2 site afterwards.

New information?! See my analysis below.

That in all the drawn pictures you see of Ly, her stripes are always in different positions?

Yeah...

That in the group shot wallpaper, Ly's tail is missing?

Yes...

That Ly loves to juggle? She was featured in many pictures juggling three or more pink balls.

True...

That Ly runs on her hands and feet like a cat in Walk of Life when she's behind Rayman? (Hmmm... sounds like what I do at home...)

Indeed...

That Globox's ability to create rain clouds used to be a power he couldn't control? It was titled "The Gift".

New information?! See my analysis below.

That he used to be called Globber? The name was eventually passed on to one of his kids.

True; confirmed in Rayman Zone.

That the Teensies used to be called "The Small Beings"?

I've heard that before, but I'm not sure if it's true.

That Polokus is the father of the Teensies? In the old Rayman2 site it was stated that Polokus was the father of the Teensies when he married a beautiful woman called... I forgot her name. But anyway, when she saw how "ugly" her sons were, she got so distressed she ran away and disappeared. This was the cause for Polokus's long, deep sleep.

New information?! See my analysis below.

That Polokus's original name was "Polochus"?

I've heard that before, but I'm not sure if it's true.

That Carmen originally had no eyes? Also, her body was longer and slimmer.

New information?! See my analysis below.

That Razorbeard's original name was "Razorface?"

New information?! See my analysis below.

That Razorbeard was originally was a dark shadow in the form of a bird? He was bigger and looked sorta like a clown with no color.

New information?! See my analysis below.

That the pirates used to have different so-called "species"? Red Rum was given to the one with red-and-yellow bands, Creole to the one who looks like a maid and Gorilla to the one who looks like he doesn't know what's going on.

New information?! See my analysis below.

That the first letters of Glade of Dreams spell G.O.D in initials? Hey, it's a fact!

I guess so.


...


Now, here is my analysis of the new and unconfirmed information. None of this information is on the wiki, and it's not well-known amongst us Rayman fans, as far as I know. The reason I listed all the well-known details above is to show you all that this guy seems to be legitimate, and not the type of person to make up things like this. Well, here we go:

The character of Rayman in Rayman 2 was designed by French artist Jean-Michael Papal.

Now, I've never heard of this before. It's obvious that Rayman was redesigned between R1 and R2, but for some reason I always assumed the redesigning was done by Michel Ancel himself. If not, that's quite interesting.

That Ly was originally a Princess from the Island of Phrys? For some reason Ubi omitted that from the Rayman2 site afterwards.

I find this highly intriguing. Female characters in platformers are very often princesses...and it seems typical of Ubisoft to remove stuff from their website, as we all know they remove most Rayman-related information over time. If Ly really is a princess, that would mean she's of royal descent...perhaps related to the Shoedsackovskaïa family (Razoff's family) in some way? And what is the "Island of Phrys"?

That Globox's ability to create rain clouds used to be a power he couldn't control? It was titled "The Gift".

To me, this sounds like an interesting plot element that was dropped for some reason or other. Perhaps the idea that Globox has no control over his rain-powers could have cropped up in a scrapped R2 level or something. As for the rain-powers being called "The Gift"...a baby Globox gives Rayman the gift of the Rain Mask in Revolution...interesting.

That Polokus is the father of the Teensies? In the old Rayman2 site it was stated that Polokus was the father of the Teensies when he married a beautiful woman called... I forgot her name. But anyway, when she saw how "ugly" her sons were, she got so distressed she ran away and disappeared. This was the cause for Polokus's long, deep sleep.

Holy fucking shit. That's a serious bombshell dropped on us right there, if it's true. We know that Polokus created the Teensies, but as their actual father...my mind has pretty much been blown by this. The idea of a union between two deities creating a race of ugly creatures which are hated by one of their parents but cared for by the other is hardly uncommon in Greek mythology (e.g., Gaia, Ouranos and the Hecatonchires), and we know that Ancel drew inspiration from "fairy tales"...it's a bloody pity that that guy couldn't remember the name of Polokus's wife, though. I wonder what it was... As for Polokus going to sleep because his wife left him, that doesn't really contradict what we know already. Perhaps he wished to continue creating creatures, but was unable to produce any more offspring due to the departure of his wife, so the only way he could do so was through his dreams? Or perhaps he had planned to create Time with her (as, according to the Lums in R2, he was unable to do by himself), but due to her absence, he had to go to the other gods for their aid in creating Time? Perhaps the explanation is a mixture of both. Or perhaps he was just lonely, and/or looking for another partner. Perhaps his wife wasn't even a goddess; according to the Lums in R2, Polokus created the Fairies before the Teensies...she could have been one of them. And, as we all know, Teensies ARE ancient...perhaps ancient enough to be Polokus's offspring... If the Leptys can be the Father of the Knaaren, why can't Polokus be the Father of the Teensies? I hope this turns out to be true. I think it would add an awesome new layer depth to the backstory and mythology of Rayman's universe.

That Carmen originally had no eyes? Also, her body was longer and slimmer.

This is a description of a beta image or something. It's posted on the site.

That the Teensies used to be called "The Small Beings"? That Polokus's original name was "Polochus"? That Razorbeard's original name was "Razorface?"

I've heard all these before. I'm sure they're from an official source (but I can't find it...). Most likely a preview or interview of some sort. I also seem to recall the Robo-Pirate army being called "The Mysterious Guild"?

That Razorbeard was originally was a dark shadow in the form of a bird? He was bigger and looked sorta like a clown with no color.

Another beta image description? If so, I want to see that image...now. I've heard someone on this forum say that Razorbeard was originally going to be a bird-like thing. If this information is accurate, that's really interesting..."a clown with no color"? That really doesn't sound like the kind of thing that someone would deliberately make up. A big, colourless, bird-shaped, shadowy clown...

That the pirates used to have different so-called "species"? Red Rum was given to the one with red-and-yellow bands, Creole to the one who looks like a maid and Gorilla to the one who looks like he doesn't know what's going on.

Yes...I've heard these names before, as the alternate text of images on Matthias Franke's Rayman Fanpage, if I'm not mistaken. If this is true, the Red H800 is a "Red Rum", and, presumably, the Green H800 is a "Green Rum", the Blue H800 is a "Blue Rum", and so on. What's this one that "looks like a maid"? Could it be Razorbeard's lackey? He's the only Pirate that acts in a servantile, "maid"-like fashion. And "Gorilla Pirate" is a name already known to us, which lends the other two credibility...


...


In conclusion: the guy who wrote up this list of "Did you know..." facts about Rayman really doesn't seem to be the kind of person to make things up, and I think it's quite likely that he found this information on the old official R2 website (just so you all know, there WAS an official R2 website; R2 DC has a link to it). There are loads of correct "facts" here, and not a single one of them that can be proven incorrect. Of the new and unconfirmed nuggets of information, I've heard of several already, and the ones I haven't heard of range from interesting (Pirate species, Island of Phrys) to mind-blowing (Polokus as father of the Teensies). I think we should try and track down any confirmation of the authenticity of this infomation, and see where that leads us.

Now...discuss!

Ah, we're really talking here. That site was made in the very early 2000s by a former fan who went by TRP [the Rayman psychopath], who happened to be one of the very first online friends I ever had, and it used to be my fave site ever until she ceased to update. As a result, I've already been aware of this info, but I've been reluctant to blast it all over the place because well, there's no accessible "old Rayman 2 website" anymore [I tried, and I can hardly dig in at WebArchive] to help me back it up.

spiraldoor wrote:

That Polokus is the father of the Teensies? In the old Rayman2 site it was stated that Polokus was the father of the Teensies when he married a beautiful woman called... I forgot her name. But anyway, when she saw how "ugly" her sons were, she got so distressed she ran away and disappeared. This was the cause for Polokus's long, deep sleep.

Holy fucking shit. That's a serious bombshell dropped on us right there, if it's true. We know that Polokus created the Teensies, but as their actual father...my mind has pretty much been blown by this. The idea of a union between two deities creating a race of ugly creatures which are hated by one of their parents but cared for by the other is hardly uncommon in Greek mythology (e.g., Gaia, Ouranos and the Hecatonchires), and we know that Ancel drew inspiration from "fairy tales"...it's a bloody pity that that guy couldn't remember the name of Polokus's wife, though. I wonder what it was... As for Polokus going to sleep because his wife left him, that doesn't really contradict what we know already. Perhaps he wished to continue creating creatures, but was unable to produce any more offspring due to the departure of his wife, so the only way he could do so was through his dreams? Or perhaps he had planned to create Time with her (as, according to the Lums in R2, he was unable to do by himself), but due to her absence, he had to go to the other gods for their aid in creating Time? Perhaps the explanation is a mixture of both. Or perhaps he was just lonely, and/or looking for another partner. Perhaps his wife wasn't even a goddess; according to the Lums in R2, Polokus created the Fairies before the Teensies...she could have been one of them. And, as we all know, Teensies ARE ancient...perhaps ancient enough to be Polokus's offspring... If the Leptys can be the Father of the Knaaren, why can't Polokus be the Father of the Teensies? I hope this turns out to be true. I think it would add an awesome new layer depth to the backstory and mythology of Rayman's universe.

Crikey I remember this

Back in the old days I remember reading this on some random site (but not this one, I swear it was an official site! But it was a while back) and discussing it with a couple of friends. The idea that Polokus is father of the Teenies has always been 'fact' to me but i honestly can't remember where the original info came from.

I always felt a little sad for his poor wife ;_; Surely the teensies aren't THAT ugly

I wrote the above post in Notepad, so the formatting is terrible. Sorry.

I've said pretty much all I have to say above, so does anyone else have any thoughts regarding this information?

~And congratulations on the greenification, Stacey.

The idea that Polokus is the father of the Teensie beings is certainly plausible. As far as I'm aware, Teensies are some of the most ancient beings in Rayman's planet, and this neatly ties in with Polokus' creation of the Raymanian universe. They do bear a resemblence too, at least, in measurement.

The new dimension to Globox's raincloud ability is intriguing as well.

It does seem to explain the 'Teensie Genders' conundrum quite well: the Teensies are a race of siblings, all male, all god-spawned, and, as such, all immortal, in no need of reproduction...

spiraldoor wrote:all male

I am not in the habit of repeating myself, but if they're all the same gender, how can gender exist at all?

PluMGMK wrote:

spiraldoor wrote:all male

I am not in the habit of repeating myself, but if they're all the same gender, how can gender exist at all?

Are you saying that if all women suddenly died, men would not be men any more? Of course they would.

spiraldoor wrote:

PluMGMK wrote:

spiraldoor wrote:all male

I am not in the habit of repeating myself, but if they're all the same gender, how can gender exist at all?

Are you saying that if all women suddenly died, men would not be men any more? Of course they would.

Yes, but there were never Teensie women. Unless you consider their excuses for going canon.

Maybe the pirates/Hoodlums chose to only captivate male Teensies. Traditionally men are the sufferers who have to undergo pain, and that...

Maybe the pirates/Hoodlums chose to only captivate male Teensies. Traditionally men are the sufferers who have to undergo pain, and that...

It must be a very strange coincidence that we NEVER see any female Teensies during Rayman 2 and 3 in all versions, if we're talking about it this way.

That Ly was originally a Princess from the Island of Phrys? For some reason Ubi omitted that from the Rayman2 site afterwards.

That Globox's ability to create rain clouds used to be a power he couldn't control? It was titled "The Gift".

That Polokus is the father of the Teensies? In the old Rayman2 site it was stated that Polokus was the father of the Teensies when he married a beautiful woman called... I forgot her name. But anyway, when she saw how "ugly" her sons were, she got so distressed she ran away and disappeared. This was the cause for Polokus's long, deep sleep.

If all this is true, would it mean that Ubisoft came up with a whole lot of character backgrounds, but then decided to drop it, leaving the characters with almost no info from the past?

That Polokus is the father of the Teensies? In the old Rayman2 site it was stated that Polokus was the father of the Teensies when he married a beautiful woman called... I forgot her name. But anyway, when she saw how "ugly" her sons were, she got so distressed she ran away and disappeared. This was the cause for Polokus's long, deep sleep.

I can see how this was scrapped...

Xenon wrote:Maybe the pirates/Hoodlums chose to only captivate male Teensies. Traditionally men are the sufferers who have to undergo pain, and that...

I meant the excuse: "I have to go give my auntie (or grandma in your version) her spongebath."

A lot of those facts look like fan speculation or someone piecing things together through various interviews with people at Ubisoft. The biggest problem here for me is, THERE ARE NO SOURCES.

First of all, I'm sure the reason for Rayman's limbs was more of a style decision than something to save "20x the graphics space." That's just silly. There's still tons of animation work in the first Rayman, so I highly doubt they were that concerned about doing less work/space, not to mention the effort they put into the intro and ending movies. Earthworm Jim and all the Virgin Interactive Disney games previous to Rayman showed that full animation with many states is completely viable for a 16 bit platformer and upwards. I'd like to see where this person got that from as I get the feeling it may have been a misunderstood quote from an interview with someone on the original Rayman team.

Also the other thing that bothers me is the "fact" about Rayman being a 12 year old boy visiting Mondo/Heyitscool or whatever. Nothing has confirmed that besides a few poorly written articles in the US from the early 90s that just seem to be more of an example of making stuff up in video game journalism rather than official Rayman lore. If someone can find an article in a French gaming magazine from that era with a quote saying so, then I'll believe it.

Without this person going through and displaying sources for each and every one of their fun facts, it just reads like a fan list with poor grammar.

Do you think we can finally put a name on Razorbeard's lackey then?

syntheticgerbil wrote:A lot of those facts look like fan speculation or someone piecing things together through various interviews with people at Ubisoft. The biggest problem here for me is, THERE ARE NO SOURCES.

First of all, I'm sure the reason for Rayman's limbs was more of a style decision than something to save "20x the graphics space." That's just silly. There's still tons of animation work in the first Rayman, so I highly doubt they were that concerned about doing less work/space, not to mention the effort they put into the intro and ending movies. Earthworm Jim and all the Virgin Interactive Disney games previous to Rayman showed that full animation with many states is completely viable for a 16 bit platformer and upwards. I'd like to see where this person got that from as I get the feeling it may have been a misunderstood quote from an interview with someone on the original Rayman team.

Also the other thing that bothers me is the "fact" about Rayman being a 12 year old boy visiting Mondo/Heyitscool or whatever. Nothing has confirmed that besides a few poorly written articles in the US from the early 90s that just seem to be more of an example of making stuff up in video game journalism rather than official Rayman lore. If someone can find an article in a French gaming magazine from that era with a quote saying so, then I'll believe it.

Without this person going through and displaying sources for each and every one of their fun facts, it just reads like a fan list with poor grammar.

Didn't you see this Gerbil?

I thought he was 10, not 12.

spiraldoor wrote:

That Polokus is the father of the Teensies? In the old Rayman2 site it was stated that Polokus was the father of the Teensies when he married a beautiful woman called... I forgot her name. But anyway, when she saw how "ugly" her sons were, she got so distressed she ran away and disappeared. This was the cause for Polokus's long, deep sleep.

Wow, this is interesting. Maybe Polokus is like a Greek god, and he had multiple lovers, and thus created the Ludivs, the Minisuaruses, the greenbottles, and the glutes.

ZuTheSkunk wrote:

Maybe the pirates/Hoodlums chose to only captivate male Teensies. Traditionally men are the sufferers who have to undergo pain, and that...

It must be a very strange coincidence that we NEVER see any female Teensies during Rayman 2 and 3 in all versions, if we're talking about it this way.

Seeing as the Rayman universe is in the habit of creating new species whenever there's a magical imbalance (see Rayman 1) it might suggest that the Teensies aren't 'born' but formed from energy. Hence there's no need for traditional 'females' or any kind of gender specifications. Maybe Teensies just appear and form out of nothing and become part of population. A magical field can be the excuse for all sorts of things ^_^