Piranha

Piranha
Alignment	Bad
Appears in	Rayman, Maths and English with Rayman, Rayman Designer, Rayman 2, Rayman (Game Boy Color), Rayman 2 Forever, Rayman Arena (GameCube and Xbox), Rayman 3, Rayman 3 (Game Boy Advance), Rayman: Hoodlums' Revenge, Rayman Raving Rabbids (Game Boy Advance), Rayman Raving Rabbids (DS), Rayman Kart, Rayman Origins, Rayman Legends (Back to Origins), Rayman Fiesta Run
Location	The Dream Forest, the Fairy Glade, the Marshes of Awakening, the Bayou, The Sanctuary of Water and Ice, the Menhir Hills (PlayStation), Whale Bay, the Sanctuary of Rock and Lava, the Walk of Power (Dreamcast), Tomb of the Ancients, the Iron Mountains, Globox's House, Spellbound Forest, Rainy Forest, Clearleaf Forest, the Bog of Murk, Forgotten Forests, Clearleaf Forest (Rayman: Hoodlums' Revenge), Clearleaf Falls, Rivers of Murk, Heart of the World (Rayman: Hoodlums' Revenge), Mélée Mayhem, Forest world, Murky Swamp, possibly Shipwreck Track, Jibberish Jungle, Gourmand Land, Sea of Serendipity, Ticklish Temples, Luscious Lakes, Angsty Abyss
Portrayed by	{{{portrayed by}}}
Resistance	or
Attacks	Contact
Sex	{{{sex}}}
Species	{{{species}}}
Relatives	{{{relatives}}}

The Piranha is basically a pair of jaws with a bit of flesh around it. It's the only fish that really loves fishermen: not only do they sacrifice body and soul to feed the piranhas – they also supply the dental floss!

—Official description, Rayman 3

Piranhas are a type of flesh-eating fish enemy, named after the real-life creature of the same name, that lurk in the murky waters of the Glade of Dreams. They can be found in all three major Rayman platformers, albeit with different behavioural patterns. They are notable for being one of the series' few consistently recurring elements.

In Rayman and its spin-offs

In the original Rayman game, Maths and English with Rayman and Rayman Designer, they are found only in the Dream Forest, and fly up from the water with their helicopter caudal fin. If Rayman touches them, he loses a hit point, and depending on his position, he can be knocked backwards into the water and lose a life. Rayman can defend himself from piranhas by punching them with his telescopic fist, which shatters their sharp teeth and defeats them for a short period, until they come back. Only a single punch is required.

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  A piranha in the original Rayman game.
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  A piranha struck by Rayman's telescopic fist.

In the Game Boy Color version of Rayman

In this game, piranhas appear in Spellbound Forest and Rainy Forest. They have red skin and a purple fin on their heads. They come in two types: one that flies up from the water like in Rayman, and another that leaps out of the water as in Rayman 2. They can be defeated in one shot.

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  Flying piranhas in Spellbound Forest
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  A leaping piranha in Rainy Forest
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  A flying piranha hit by Rayman's fist

In Rayman 2

In Rayman 2, piranhas are found in any body of water that Rayman cannot swim in, usually polluted or stagnated water, or even acid. Two major kinds of piranhas live in those places: the small ones that devour Rayman when he falls into water, and the bigger ones that jump from water and try to bite him. A single energy ball can get rid of the second kind. In Whale Bay, Rayman must fight off piranhas who suffer from heartburn; these piranhas attempt to eat Carmen the Whale's air bubbles, which Rayman needs to survive.

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  A small piranha in Rayman 2.
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  A piranha in Rayman 2.
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  A piranha swimming in Rayman 2.
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  A piranha attacking near Rayman.
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  A piranha close-up, in Rayman Revolution.
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  Piranha-infested bodies of water are indicated by warning signs in Rayman 2.
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  Another piranha warning sign in Rayman Revolution.

In Rayman 3 and its spin-offs

Piranhas are also present in all versions of Rayman 3, mainly in the Bog of Murk, but while Rayman can actually swim in the dirty waters they live in, they will deplete his energy very quickly and cause a game over. The piranhas in this game have mechanical jaws which resemble bear-traps. In Clearleaf Forest, piranhas are shown to swim powerfully enough to pursue Rayman and Globox as they ascend the waterfall. In the Bog of Murk, they can often be encountered jumping back and forth over the logs which Rayman must walk across. When these piranhas are punched, their mechanical jaws shatter and they are defeated; this recalls the piranhas from the previous games, whose organic teeth crumbled when they were defeated.

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  A small piranha in Rayman 3.
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  A piranha in Rayman 3.
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  Piranhas pursuing Rayman and Globox up a waterfall in Clearleaf Forest. The bear-trap-like mouths are clearly visible.
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  Piranhas in the Bog of Murk in Rayman 3.

In Rayman 3 (Game Boy Advance)

Piranhas are also encountered in the Game Boy Advance version of Rayman 3, in Forgotten Forests, the first of the game's four lands. They can be found jumping out of the water in the same manner as those in Rayman 2, and their appearance is the same as well. These ones can also be hit and killed in a single blow, which causes their teeth to crumble, as in the other games.

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  A piranha, as seen in the Game Boy Advance version of Rayman 3.
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  Rather than merely breaking their teeth, Rayman's fist can reduce the piranhas to their skeletons in this game.

In Rayman: Hoodlums' Revenge

Here's another reason to hate the water! These Rayman-eating nasties will leap around blindly, trying to take a bite of anything that gets close enough.

—Manual, Rayman: Hoodlums' Revenge

A piranha, as seen in Rayman: Hoodlums' Revenge.

Piranhas appear once more in Rayman: Hoodlums' Revenge, an isometric handheld platformer based on Rayman 3. These piranhas resemble and behave like their Rayman 3 counterparts.

In the Nintendo versions of Rayman Raving Rabbids

In Rayman Raving Rabbids (Game Boy Advance)

A piranha, as seen in the Game Boy Advance version of Rayman Raving Rabbids.

In the Game Boy Advance version of Rayman Raving Rabbids, piranhas appear in the Forest world, an environment heavily inspired by the Dream Forest. These piranhas look identical to the ones in the original game, and behave in exactly the same way, but, unlike the piranhas from the Dream Forest, these are not replaced with new ones when hit.

In Rayman Raving Rabbids (DS)

In the Nintendo DS version of Rayman Raving Rabbids piranhas appear as normal enemies which come jumping out of the water during certain points. A special red type, which doesn't jump out of the water, can only be defeated using Yellow Lums.

In Rayman Kart

In Rayman Kart, piranhas appear only in one level: Murky Swamp. They can be seen jumping from the waters of the bog. A boost must usually be used to get safely over them; it is difficult for the player to avoid the piranhas without one. Similar-looking fish appear in Shipwreck Track, but it is not clear if they are piranhas.

In Rayman Origins

Main article: Baby piranha

In Rayman Origins, small, blue and red dangerous fish called baby piranhas can be found schooling in various ponds in the game. They are invincible, and instantly kill characters unless they carry a heart, in which case they will be harmed and will make a small jump, sometimes helpful to go back to a safe place.

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  A group of baby piranhas, as seen in Rayman Origins.

Fish with big teeth, LOTS OF TEETH. A dangerous foe in troubled waters.

—Official website, Rayman Origins

Larger piranhas were intended to make a return in Rayman Origins, but they were scrapped. Artwork of the game depicts the piranha as a fish with a gigantic mouth and enormous teeth, blue-orange skin and red eyes. Their attack pattern is unknown but an artwork from The Daily Bubble shows one with its jaws wide open, suggesting that it would try to bite the players similarly to how Darktoons attack in the game.

Those larger piranhas also appear on the icon of the achievement/trophy "Survivor!" (only on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3), despite the latter being unlocked by interacting with the smaller piranhas.

Like the Soldier, the large piranha had its own description and artwork on the launch site of Rayman Origins without appearing in the game.

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  The scrapped piranha from Rayman Origins
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  A piranha shown in The Daily Bubble with its jaws wide open

Names in other languages

Language	Name
English	Piranha
French	Piranha
German	Piranha