Rayman
For the first Rayman game, see Rayman 1.
| Rayman | |
|---|---|
| Alignment | Good |
| Appears in | Rayman, R2, RR, M, R3, RRR, RRR2 |
| Sex | Male |
| Species | Raymanian |
| Status | Hero |
Rayman is the hero of the Glade of Dreams. He is the creation of French game designer Michel Ancel, and has become a popular and recognizable video games character over the past decade.
Appearance
Rayman is a typical Raymanian and as such he has no arms, legs or a neck - his hands, feet and head float around his body. He has a huge round nose, and has strawberry blonde hair which he divides into two (three in Rayman 1) fronds that are held up to resemble ears. He often uses this as a helicopter, and sometimes to fly whenever he is able to. His eyes are violet in colour, though in most official artwork they are coloured black.
Rayman is almost always seen in white gloves and a purple shirt with a white ring on the chest, which absorbs energy from the Fairies and connects to the altars of the Four Masks of Polokus. Up until Rayman 3, he wears a red neckerchief, which was later replaced with a hood. He also wears shoes that are typically yellow, though the actual designs change throughout the series. Rayman Raving Rabbids is mostly where he is seen wearing different clothing that sometimes looks like he has knees, such as the Disco costume.
Biography
The Original Story of Rayman
Very little is known about Rayman's early life, though in the Jaguar version of Rayman, the story told of a young boy called Jimmy that had been sucked into a world he had created on his computer called "Hereitscool", and transformed into the limbless wonder. It is also unknown as to why exactly Rayman and all of the other characters in the first game are limbless, though rumour has it that the removal of limbs had saved the original graphics team 20 times more memory space than they would have with limbs.
No Problem!
Rayman is first seen in his first game asleep in a hammock, where he lazily speaks the words "No problem" in response to his calls from the Magician to save the world from the terror caused by Mister Dark. He apparently lives by the sea in what looks like a shipwrecked boat, though his home is never fully seen. It is then he travels through six different lands in search of Mister Dark's Dare, where he challenges and defeats Mr. Dark and his hybrids.
Rayman the Teacher
Main Article: Rayman Junior
From 1996, Rayman appeared in several educational computer games designed especially for children, notably a remake of the original Rayman in which the player has to solve several questions throughout modified versions of the original levels. This game had several names, and was later released for the Playstation in 2000 as Rayman Junior.
Other educational Rayman games included the following:
- Rayman Activity Centre
- Rayman Premieres Clics
- Rayman Éviel
A New World
Between the events of Rayman 1 and 2, Rayman somehow ended up in the world he is in today. He was discovered asleep by some fishermen, who called upon all the creatures of the world for help. They were amazed. Eventually, Rayman woke up and managed to convince the others of his good intentions. When they were convinced, they knew he was a hero.
Pirates!
Main Articles: Rayman 2: The Great Escape, Rayman Revolution and Rayman DS
Now it was time for Rayman to show his heroicness. Admiral Razorbeard and his Robo-Pirate army soon attacked and in the Great Forest, Rayman and Globox fought off a bunch of them. Suddenly, Rayman's powers disppeared and Ly telephatically communicated with him to tell him the Heart of the World had been smashed into 1000 pieces called Lums, meaning Rayman and Ly's powers had disappeared. Then Rayman was captured and he told a frightened Globox to go to Ly for help. Rayman was put in a jail cell and Globox himself soon arrived, giving him a Silver Lum from Ly. The Silver Lum gave him back the power to shoot his magic fist and he used to escape. Globox accidentally knocks Rayman off the ship and they both go plunging to their doom...
On his journey to find Ly, Rayman meets Murfy, the Grand Minimus, the Baby Globoxes and more. He soon finds Ly, who gives him the grapple power back and tells him he needs to finds the four masks of Polokus to reawaken Polokus himself. On his journey to collect them, Rayman does many things such as find an Elixer to cure Clark, free many friends from captivity and even defeats the guardians of the masks. Eventually, he collects all four and travels to the Prison Ship to defeat Razorbeard. After beating him, Razorbeard blows up the Prison Ship and Rayman is believed to be dead, the only thing left of him being his shoe. At his funeral, Rayman arrives, and everyone cheers, knowing their hero is still alive after a long and difficult journey.
Hanging out in the city
Main Article: Rayman: The Animated Series
Rigatoni, the villainous boss of the Aeropolis circus, captures Rayman and takes him to his circus. Rayman, however, does not take this and jokes around with Razorbeard, Rigatoni's servant. Rayman finds out how badly the other circus freaks are being treated and helps them escape. Angered, Rigatoni phones Inspector Grub and tells him to fimd Rayman and his new friends and bring them back. Back with Rayman and the gang, they see an old man struggling to fix a car. The man promises he'll let them have the car if they can fix it and Cookie successfully manages and the gang take the car.
Let the competition begin!
Main Article: Rayman M
Rayman and his friends & foes returned for a competition to see who actually was the best. The competition contained two parts: Racing and Battle. Rayman was one of the main competetors, but he did not have any skins.
Razorbeard's Revenge
Main Article: Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc (GBA)
When Razorbeard strikes back at the Glades of Dreams, it is up to Rayman to save his friends yet again. Rayman and Globox talk about how Globox was saving the Teensies when he accidentally swallowed a Black Lum. Suddenly, Globox vanishes and Rayman goes looking for him. Facing similar events to Rayman 2, Rayman soon battles Razorbeard's machine the Grolgoth yet again and defeats Razorbeard.
Later, Globox tells his children that he saved the world, with a little help from Rayman.
A Wacky Adventure
Main Article: Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc
Rayman and his best friend Globox are napping in the Crossroads of Dreams. Rayman's hands suddenly come to life and walk off. They see a Red Lum and scare it by making shadow puppets. The Red Lum is scared so much that it turns into the Dark Lum Lord Andre, who goes and creates his Hoodlum army.
Rayman and Globox sleep peacefully when Murfy comes panicking. He wakes Globox up and Globox sees why Murfy is panicking: there is a Hoodlum coming straight for them. Desperate, they try to wake Rayman up, and Globox ends up accidentally pulling off Rayman's hands. Globox runs off in fear of his life, taking Rayman's hands with him. Murfy picks Rayman up by the hair and they both fly off, Rayman waking up.
Murfy explains to Rayman that Globox took off with his hands and they both search for him. Finally, they find him hiding in a barrel and Rayman, Globox and Rayman's hands are reunited. However, Globox is soon scared off when three Hoodlums arrive, the leader of which is Andre himself. Rayman and Globox follow them and eventually find Andre. Murfy distracts him while Rayman beats him up. Andre, after having come out of the Hoodlum costume, leaves behind a Laser Detergent Washing Powder and reveals that he is heading for the Heart of the World, so Rayman and Murfy follow him. Soon they see Globox, and Andre comes running right for the entrance to the Heart of the World, with one problem: Globox is in the way. Globox notices Andre and thinks Andre is coming for him, so screams, opening his mouth wide. Andre then bumps into Globox and ends up in his mouth, falling into his stomach.
Rayman and Murfy proceed to the Heart and see the Teensies, King Minimus among them, with Globox. they send Globox to the Teensie Highway and tell Rayman to follow him, as it leads to the Doctor Otto. Rayman obeys and they arrive at Clearleaf Forest. After beating the Masterkaag there they find the Doctor's office. Otto plays Globox's arm like a guitar to try and get rid of Andre, but Andre instead goes to the Lungs, where the noise is blocked. Otto tells Rayman and Globox to go see the second Doctor Romeo.
However, in the Teensie Highway on the way to the Doctor's, Rayman ends up falling and ends up in Begoniax's toilet in the Bog of Murk; right when Begoniax is using the toilet. Begoniax runs off to her house and Rayman goes to battle her. After that, Rayman soon finds the Hoodlums trying to break into Count Razoff's house. Rayman beats them and walks into the house, battling Razoff himself who wishes to kill Rayman so he can become a rug skin carpet. Rayman wins and follows Razoff to his back garden, where Razoff is riding a giant chainball! Rayman remains victorious and Razoff plunges down underground. Begoniax goes to see what the trouble is and instantly falls in love with Razoff, taking him to her house. Rayman and Globox are reunited and take a portal to the Land of the Livid Dead.
Character
Physical
Rayman is a very laid back character, as he is often seen snoozing either on a hammock or up against a tree, but he is also very athletic and shows great gymnastic skills, especially since Rayman 2. he is also strong enough to carry things such as plums. However, he started out as a poor swimmer, as in the original Rayman he would lose a life the instant he'd fall into any body of liquid, but he soon develops this skill fast by the time Rayman 2 is set in. In Rayman Revolution he is taught this by Murfy and a Baby Globox.
Personality
Rayman's true personality isn't very well looked into throughout the series, though most of the time he is a cheerful character with a good sense of humour. He is also very helpful, and is willing to take on whatever challenges face him for the sake of the safety and harmony of his world. Sometimes he can be a little childish, especially in Rayman 1, as he often pulls grimaces for whatever reason. Lately though he has become somewhat self absorbed, especially in Rayman Raving Rabbids, as the Rabbids start to treat him like a celebrity during his captivity, though he remembers and worries about the baby Globoxes that he left behind.
Trivia
- Rayman was a wanted character in the game Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but never made it.
- When Rayman 2 was released in Japan and China, Rayman's purple clothes and the stripes on Ly's suit had to be changed to blue, because in those countries purple is the "colour of the dead".
- In Rayman Junior, it is revealed that one of Rayman's hobbies is painting.
- Rayman also seems to like basketball. In Rayman 2, he would sometimes take his body off and play with it like a basketball whenever he is left idle.
- Some of Rayman's gymnastic skills include handstands, somersaults and backflips.
Portrayals
- In Rayman 1, Rayman is voiced by Steve Perkinson
- From Rayman 2 onwards, he is voiced by David Gasman.
- In the animated TV series, he is voiced by Billy West.
