Robo-Pirate

• This article is about the pirates from Rayman 2. For the pirates from Rayman, see Pirate (Picture City).

"Rayman, look what the Pirates have done to our world... A planet of anguish and pain, haunted by evil. A dark place, teeming with fierce monsters." - Ly the Fairy, Rayman 2

The Robo-Pirates (or Henchmen) are an army of robotic pirates that invaded Rayman's world in Rayman 2. They all willingly serve Admiral Razorbeard, but do seem to have their own personalities.

Appearance

The majority of the Henchmen are largely the same. Their head is like a metallic skull with an earring on one side, with a face like the front of a steam engine. Also, one eye is completely black, as if they have an eye patch. Their torso basically consists of a cube-like shape with a coloured vest on it. The vest is slightly torn at the bottom. They have two arms, both of which end in a cylinder-like structure. On one side, the cylinder is hollow - this is where they fire their bullets from. The other side has a large hook, which they often use for swiping at close range. Their two legs have striped pants that are similar to the vest in that they are torn at the bottom. Their feet are basically black shoes with gold-ish buckles on them.

Models

There are many different pirate models, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Basic Henchman

The basic Henchman are the standard model, that come in different colours and have different weapons, but all look largely the same. They sometimes appear in the level by parachuting or drilling up through the ground. More than often they are found sleeping on the job. The Henchman 800s are the most common of the Basic Henchman.

Green

These have a green vest with green and white striped pants. They have very little health and generally just stand still and slowly shoot, however they sometimes throw powder kegs. In the PlayStation version, however, they have a lot of life, making them difficult to kill, but only ever throw kegs.

Blue

They're the same as the Green Henchmen, except blue instead of green and has a little life. They appeared in Rayman 2 and Rayman DS at the Fairy Glade, the Sanctuary of Water and Ice or the Lost Island, and the Menhir Hills. The Blue Henchmen are the uncommon Henchman 800s. The Blue Henchmen never appeared in Rayman Revolution.

Purple

File:PiratePurple.jpg

A middle-rank pirate.

These are much like the Green Henchmen, except purple instead of green, and they have much more life, and have brass hooks. Their bullets are often larger, and they have a habit of firing multiple bullets in quick succession. They move around a bit, sometimes jumping to dodge Rayman's attacks. In the PlayStation version, their bullets are the same but are always fired in sets of three, in between running back and forth. They have more life in the PlayStation version, but not as much as the Green Henchmen. They're given a similar appearence to the Blue Henchmen.

Yellow/Orange

The Yellow Henchmen have much more life, but move very little. Instead of bullets, they launch streams of fire, which move very quickly, and also throw cannonballs which start a fire where they land which causes damage when Rayman walks on it. Yellow Henchmen do not appear in the PlayStation version, but are instead replaced with Orange Henchmen. The Orange Henchmen have more life, and move around a lot via their drills. They don't throw cannonballs, and instead of a fire stream, just shoot large fireballs.

Red

File:Pirate.jpg

A red member of the Robo-Pirate Army

These Henchmen, also known as Red Rum, are the strongest of the standard Henchmen, and appear with red vests and red and yellow stripes on their pants. In the original Rayman 2, they are the strongest Henchmen, but vary in some ways. Some of them have more health then all other henchmen and fire large cannonballs, usually three at a time. Other times they shoot the normal size cannonballs and drill through the ground, hoping to hit Rayman. One interesting feature of these Pirates is that they can instantly kill Rayman if he steps on the place from which they drill upwards from underground (go to the External Links to see this). In Rayman Revolution, they fire missiles which can home in on Rayman, but these can be destroyed by Rayman's shots. Red Henchmen have lots of life. However, in the PlayStation version, their rank is inverted and they have very little life and fire only basic shots. Two Red Henchmen are used as the bodyguards in front of Razorbeard's cabin, even in the PlayStation version. Two of them (likely the same two) also carry Globox to his prison cell in the opening movie. Later on, one of the bodyguards puts his foot out to trip Razorbeard's lackey, indicating that they may have some kind of personality, or at least a sense of humour.

Henchman 1000

Main article: Henchman 1000

An older version of the Henchman 800. These types of robo-pirates are similar to the newer ones, but with a retro design and a fake mustasche. They have a hand on their right arm instead of a hook, and they are wearing a paper hat. These pirates usually speak Spanish (when they talk). They have only been seen once, as an unlockable character in Rayman M. The Henchman 1000 main theme is country rock.

Zombie Henchmen

Main article: Zombie Henchman

These are old pirates that have been wrecked and rusted, but still walk. Their vests are a pale, rotted yellow, and one of their feet are missing. In additino, their hook hangs limply off the arm and both eyes are black. As a result of their state, they don't move around very well, and walk in a zombie-like manner. Instead of shooting from their arm, the Zombie Henchmen breathes a green poisonous gas towards Rayman. Zombie Henchmen are very difficult to destroy, as when they appear to be dead, they get up again a few moments later. These are found in Rayman 2: Revolution.

Ninja Henchmen and Ninjaws

Main article: Ninja Pirate and Ninjaws

The Ninja Pirates are very similar to the others, but have a few notable appearance traits and abilities that make them very different. Ninjaws, while identical to the others, is seemingly the elite of them, and at one point returns to Razorbeard's cabin claiming to have captured 5000 slaves. In the PlayStation version of Rayman 2, Rayman battles Ninjaws for the Second Mask. Ninja Henchmen are more or less completely black and look a little less square. Their heads appear very different. Instead of a skull, it appears as a tall cylinder topped with a red bandana and gold hook on the right arm. Ninja Henchmen have a lot of life, and have the ability to vanish and then reappear somewhere else in a cloud of dust. They either appear near Rayman and try to hook Rayman, or appear standing back more and try to shoot him. Sometimes they will teleport quickly to different places around Rayman while shooting, surrounding him with bullets. Their weakness is that their hooks are very heavy. If they miss, it gives Rayman an opportunity to attack. In Rayman 2: Revolution, two can be seen in Razorbeard's cabin. Later on, they defend the two generators that power the shield at the Pirate Factory, and once the generators are destroyed, the Ninja Henchmen are no longer seen next to Razorbeard.

Gorilla Pirate

Main article: Ape Pirate

The Gorilla Pirates are so named because of their similarities to an ape or gorilla, in both appearance and behaviour. they are very bulky, and where a blue and white striped shirt. they can not be hurt by Rayman's attacks, so usually the idea is to lure them off a cliff or ledge, or to throw a plum at their head and use it as a platform.

Barrel Pirate

Main article: Barrel Pirate

The Barrel Pirates consist of a large barrel with legs, a cannon on top, and a slit with eyes inside. Sometimes they are found disguising themselves, as the slit can be closed and the legs can be withdrawn. In this state, they just look like a barrel and a cannon. Their attacks differ from version to version. On the PlayStation version, they simply fire sets of three large balls of electricity. In Rayman 2: Revolution however, they fire bolts of lightning that can only be avoided by hiding behind something. In this version, they also launch cannonballs, similar to those used by the yellow henchmen, only it uses a poisonous gas instead of fire. One thing that is consistent in each version is their large amount of life.

Razorbeard's lackey

Main article: Admiral Razorbeard's lackey

This is the pirate who carries out many of Razorbeard's orders. He is unarmed, although his arms are very similar to a typical Henchman's, except with ordinary hands. his body consists of two rough cubes, the lower one larger than the top. The lower one has the legs sticking out of it and a pair of green pants. His head is a basic cube with an opening mouth and a red bandana. Although he has no weapons, he still causes Rayman trouble. Carrying out Razorbeard's orders, he drives the Warships which pursue Rayman. He also controls Clark at one point via remote control, as well as a giant bird-like robot called the Robot Dinosaur in the same manner. Also, in Rayman Revolution, he controls a hemispherical vehicle called the Boss Biditank.

Pirate Vehicles

The Warships

Warships are flying Pirate ships that attack Rayman in the Bayou, the Canopy, and the Precipice (and the Echoing Caves in Revolution). They usually fire slow-moving homing bombs that move about like a helicopter, and can be easily destroyed by Rayman's attacks. They also fire cannonballs, but these are not usually aimed at Rayman, but instead at platforms to blow them away. They may also launch Walking Shells that run towards Rayman upon landing.

The Robot Dinosaur

The Robot Dinosaur is a giant bird-like robot controlled by Razorbeard's lackey. It is only ever named in the PlayStation version, but also appear in the others. The Grand Minimus tells Rayman that this Robotic titan was dropped on the Iron Mountains (also known as Gloomy Island) by the Pirates, to search for the fourth and final mask. It is often to be seen walking around and pecking at the ground like a chicken; it is possible that it is searching for the Fourth Mask in the soil. The Robot Dinosaur is notable for periodically jumping high, and upon landing, causing objects to bounce off the ground. Also, when Rayman is on the Walking Shell, it chases after him, and runs faster than the shell when going in a straight line, but lacks agility. The Robot Dinosaur is not destroyed, although in the PlayStation version it runs out of fuel.

The Boss Biditank

This is a tank-like vehicle that takes the shape of a hemisphere. It is driven by Razorbeard's lackey in the Pirate Factory in Rayman Revolution, and travels on wheels located on its underside. It fires the same type of propeller bombs as the Warships, as well as a machine gun-like weapon. Also, it can use an attack like that of the Barrel Pirates, at which point Rayman must hide behind something to avoid being damaged. It can only be damaged by activating a powerful gun and using it to fire at the tank.

Trivia

• The Red Henchmen were sometimes called Red Rum.
• Some Henchmen are stupid to fall off a cliff in the Eastern Plains of the Minisaurus Plains by luring one of them to a cliff.

External Links

Rayman gets killed by the drilling Henchmen