Rayman Pirate-Community

I. The Hoodlums

The Kagoubinôme
The Kagoubinôme, as his name suggests, is in fact composed of two completely different, but complementary, Hoodlums. He can carry out two distinct attacks, playing on the size and shape of the Hoodlums who make up his two-person character. To begin with, at long-distance, the smaller of the two perches on the fatter one and the latter starts rolling around like a ball. The small one - looking like a circus tightrope walker - steers him along, trying to crush Rayman. Later on, in close combat, it's the big Hoodlum who attacks Rayman, using the little one as a nunchaku.

Despite the character's original and attractive game design, the Kagoubinôme was discarded by the developers because his first attack required a lot of space in the level and the second proved very difficult to programme.

The Kagalpha
At the outset, the Kagalpha was conceived as a boss inside the Hoodlum factory. The initial principle for this enemy was the notion of a small highly-strung person who turns into a big, dangerous character. He was supposed to be present throughout the factory level in the form of a small Hoodlum boss, yelling at his companions to attack Rayman. He himself was supposed to be able to throw crates at our hero, who would then give chase to him. At the end of the level, the Kagalpha inhaled helium which blew him up to an immense size but gave him a tiny little voice. In this form, he tried to crush Rayman who had to deflate him little by little by hitting him with his fists.

The Kagouflap
This character's attack was fairly simple: equipped with a metal helmet, he flew over Rayman, dealing out devastating "ball strikes". However, there was one obvious presentation problem with the character, linked to the choice of cameras. Furthermore, choices had to be made from all the Hoodlums on offer and, in the end, it was the Kagustick who was retained in preference to the Kagouflap.


II. The Other Enemies

The Xovar
This species of gigantic gorilla reached an advanced state of development: a 2D sketch, followed by 3D modelling, had been made of him. He was intended to be a boss from the Clearleaf Forest into which Rayman escaped during a race/chase (viewed from in front), while doing his best to avoid certain obstacles. Unfortunately, the programmers found this enormous character too difficult to "tame" because of his size. However, though he was set aside, the more skilful Rayman 3 players succeeded in detecting his presence in a hidden level at the end of the game.

The Hoover
This carnivorous plant is a great lover of plums. Rayman was supposed to make it harmless by throwing enormous plums into its mouth to keep it shut.

The Mudis


III. The Environmental Creatures

The "Zaqs", from the aquatic world
An entirely aquatic world was dreamed up for Rayman 3. This universe was inhabited by little animals called "Zaqs" who resembled jellyfish. The universe was exploited by the Hoodlums who, in a lagoon, had set up a giant washing-machine (what else would you expect for beings made up wholly of cloth?). Rayman had to save the little "Zaqs", because they were filled with washing-powder by the Hoodlums, then used to wash their laundry!

Nevertheless, the development team didn't have enough time to create all the worlds that were initially planned, and this aquatic universe lacked rhythm compared to the others.

The Flabar
This big furry creature was initially intended to play an important role in Rayman's adventure, serving to introduce "puzzle" elements. Depending on its various physical attributes (horns, wings, trunk, very thick fur, etc.), the Flabar had the very precise function of unblocking the player in the level. For example, Rayman could make the horned Flabars charge to ram down certain doors, or fly on the backs of the winged ones to reach otherwise inaccessible places. But since the game design for this creature was unsatisfactory, in the end it was used only to supply the Hoodlums with raw material to make their clothing (as the introduction to the game shows).

The three following environmental creatures were abandoned to avoid overloading the universes with creatures and sending the player off on false trails.

Goaty
Goaty looked vaguely like an ibex. He was designed as an animal that Rayman could mount, helping him travel through the mountain universe.

Snorty
In a way, this creature - dressed in a vest - was supposed to serve as the game's "caretaker". That is, his role was to help the player if the latter was blocked in the game.

Snoot
Rayman was to have come across this kind of hippopotamus in the Clearleaf Forest. He had no particular purpose in the game. He was just an environmental animal, drinking from a stream.

Hunchman801 wrote:The kagou- prefix is probably a reference to the word cagoule, literally hood in French. As far as I know, the Hoodlums were first called cagoulards during the early development of the game, but the English name probably prevailed.

Not all those characters were scrapped though... The so-called Kagouflap (later Flapoteur) is called the Hoodloon and can be seen in the Summit beyond the Clouds. The Mudis became the Muddies (the slingshot-like creatures in the Bog of Murk), and the Flabars (later Flabards) became the Mawpaws (there is one in the introduction scene).

I do not remember reading about the others.

#Rubber mark# wrote:That's true, how did you become so good at French Hunch?

iHeckler9 wrote:

#Rubber mark# wrote:That's true, how did you become so good at French Hunch?

HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!

He lives in Paris. You think he'd know a bit of French.

Matyuv wrote:I believe this is from the old RZ's VIP-zone thing.

spiraldoor wrote:Where did you get the name 'Murkin' from?

spiraldoor wrote:Where did you get the name 'Murkin' from?