The Photographer

The Photographer, also known as Clown Photographer, is a character who appears in several games in the Rayman series, most notably Rayman and Rayman Origins. Though his exact purpose varies from game to game, he can usually be found standing near a photoboard, waiting to photograph Rayman and his friends.

The Photographer
Other names	{{{other names}}}
Alignment	Good
Appears in	Rayman, Rayman Junior, English with Rayman, Rayman Origins
Location	{{{location}}}
Portrayed by	{{{portrayed by}}}
Sex	{{{sex}}}
Species	Teensie
Status	Photographer
Relatives	{{{relatives}}}
Unlock criteria	{{{Unlock criteria}}}

He is here to immortalise your feats! When you lose a life, you start again in the last place where he took a picture of you. Make sure he snaps your picture to validate each save point.

—Manual, Rayman

The clown photographer is there to immortalize the exploits of Rayman. If he loses a life, he returns to where he was photographed the last time.

—Official site, Rayman Junior

Appearance

In the original Rayman and English with Rayman, the Photographer wears a chequered trench coat and blue shoes, and has a satchel slung over his shoulder. His face is never seen, but one of his eyes is visible through his long blonde hair. In Rayman Junior, the Photographer's appearance is slightly different: he wears a brown coat instead of a green and red chequered one.

In Rayman Origins, the Photographer's appearance changes significantly. His face is finally visible, and like several other returning characters, he has been changed to a Teensie to better fit the style of Rayman 2 and Rayman 3. He is somewhat different from the other Teensies, with a thinner body, slightly darker skin, large, cartoonish hands, and a purple outfit with a feathered hat. As in the original game, he wears large blue shoes and has a prominent eye.

The photoboards

The Photographer, as seen in the original Rayman.

Through the games, the Photographer has a tendency to change the photoboards that he uses to take pictures of Rayman. In Rayman, the photoboard has a picture of a bodybuilder's body, standing on a beach and holding what appears to be a surfboard and a pair of swimming goggles. In Rayman Junior, the photoboard has a body wearing a graduation gown, holding colourful letters and numbers. In English with Rayman, the photoboard has a picture of a star sparkled blue cloak holding an ice cream cone and a hamburger.

In Rayman Origins, the photoboard has spaces for two characters. The positions which the players take indicate who has collected the most Lums in a level. The new photoboard shows a large armoured woman with a sword, and a skinny, loincloth-clad figure wielding an axe. The player with the most Lums stands behind the picture of the woman, the player with the second-most Lums stands behind the picture of the other figure, and the two players with the least Lums are left to peek out from behind the photoboard to get their picture taken.

Role in the games

An official artwork showingThe Photographer, taking a picture of Rayman and friends.

In Rayman, Rayman Junior and English with Rayman, the Photographer serves as a checkpoint. He takes a picture when Rayman stands behind the photoboard and smiles. If Rayman dies and has any lives remaining, he returns to the last place where the Photographer took his picture. In Rayman 2, he was replaced by the Green Lum checkpoints.

In Rayman Origins, the photoboard takes on a more significant role than the Photographer himself. It appears whenever the heroes break the last Electoon cage of a level; then they smile and pose for a picture. The photoboard is no longer a checkpoint, but an end-of-level point, much like an exit sign or a Spiral Door. Earlier in the development of the game, the Photographer was intended to appear and take the heroes' picture, but the developers chose to replace him with the Magician and his test tube (which he uses to collect and count Lums). It is not clear who actually takes the photographs in the final game, but it may be that the photographer is still present but simply standing off-screen, perhaps serving as the camera of the game itself (much like the Lakitu Bros in Super Mario 64). Despite the Photographer's absence from the final version of the game, artwork depicting him can still be seen on the official website.