Rayman (character)

Rayman
Rayman series character
Solo art of Rayman from Rayman 2
First game	Rayman (1995)
Created by	Michel Ancel
Voiced by	Video games Steve Perkinson (1995) Peter Schwartzson (1995-1999) David Gasman (1999-2011) Doug Rand (2011-Present) Cartoons Billy West (the animated series)

Rayman is a titular character and the main protagonist of the Rayman series, created by Ubisoft. He is limbless and attacks by throwing his fists (although he shoots Lums in Rayman 2 and M). First appearing in 1995, Rayman debuted on the Atari Jaguar, PlayStation, Saturn and MS-DOS in Rayman where he had to defend his home from the clutches of Mr. Dark.

Concept and creation

Rayman was created by Michel Ancel when he began designing his first game as director at Ubisoft. The original character had a big nose as well as beady eyes made using simple geometric shapes; Ancel claimed in an 2011 interview that "it was quite simple, but funny at the same time."

The original story from the Atari Jaguar version of Rayman claims he was originally a boy named Jimmy, brought into his game and set in a world called Hereitscool to fight the evil. This idea was quickly abandoned in enough time for the game's Jaguar release, and Rayman would remain a mysterious figure in his own world in the releases of the other versions of the game.

Appearance

Rayman is typically found bearing white hands, a red bandanna on a purple body with a white Ring on it, and yellow trainers. The Ring appears to have magical properties. Whenever he earned a new power in Rayman, sparkles would appear around the Ring; in Rayman 2, it was used to open the stones holding the masks. One part of his character design is he has no neck, arms or legs, but rather his head, torso, hands and feet appear to float in midair relative each other as though they were attached. His hands and feet usually act like normal appendages (running, using objects, etc.), but some of his abilities involve separating them from his body. He also has a large round nose (making him look like a hippo) and blond hair resembling ears divided into two (three in the first game). His attitude, mannerisms, and attire seem to indicate that he is a teenager.

He has however been known to change outfits, beginning from his third adventure against the Black Lum André in Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc; as of that game onwards, his design has changed. His hairstyle was redesigned to look more wild and the lines on his face were also changed. His torso was also redesigned to look more rectangular, with his bandana turned into a hood. His trainers were also modified, with a red spot on either side of them (his sneakers in Rayman Origins were a combination of his sneakers from before and after Rayman 3). Players in Rayman Raving Rabbids can dress Rayman in a variety of costumes. They start with the choices of Disco, Gangsta, and Granny; as they unlock more minigames, more costumes, such as Rock 'n' roll, DJ, Gothic and eventually a bunny suit, become available.

In Japanese versions, Rayman's suit is changed from purple to blue, since purple is seen as the color of death in Japan.

Rayman's abilities consist of attacking his enemies by winding up his fists and throwing them at his enemies, floating through the air and descending slowly by using his hair as a helicopter propeller, and the ability to live and survive without his body parts attached. In Rayman 2: The Great Escape, he was granted the ability to attack his enemies with energy balls, rather than throwing his fists. Late in Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc, the Leptys granted Rayman the ability to turn Black Lums into Red Lums with a grimace, indicating a taunt. Also, there were combat fatigues in the game with could give Rayman Heavy Metal Fists that could increase his attack power, a propeller that could make him fly into the air, a missile attack that could make turn Rayman's fist into a powerful missile, a chain that could latch onto specific terrain, and Tornado Gloves.

In video games

In Rayman Origins it was revealed that he was created in the Primordial Forest by Betilla de Fairy but not much is known about Rayman's past other than that. Supposedly he was found by fishermen on a beach by the Sea of Lums. In Rayman 2 this idea is further elaborated on when Rayman is revealed to be the only creature living in the world who was not dreamed up by Polokus, as well as the only person who can convert the Silver Lums made by the Fairies into powers. It is speculated (in the game) that Rayman could in fact be a 'chosen one' selected by all the gods of all the worlds, destined to fight against evil. Despite this, Rayman has not allowed it to dampen his views on life and continues to be witty and rather energetic. The games take place in seemingly unconnected areas. The original, 2-D Rayman games take place in what is called Rayman's home world - a world that is kept stable by the Great Protoon (named the Valley in the GBA version). Most of the games after that take place in a seemingly different, more realistic world of a god named Polokus, while the Raving Rabbids take place in more contemporary settings and eventually Earth itself. The Protoon has not been spoken of in the games since, so whether or not these settings are of the same world or different ones remains a mystery.

Throughout his adventures, Rayman has accumulated a number of allies. These include bumbling Globox, helpful flying greenbottle Murfy, the numerous Teensies, and mystical Ly the Fairy, who has oddly not been seen since Rayman 2 except in handheld spin-offs. Rayman appeared with Crash Bandicoot, Spyro The Dragon, Abe the Mudokkon, and Croc (the titular character from the Croc series) in a copy of PowerStation magazine.

Rayman also appears as Roman in Asterix & Obelix XXL 2: Mission Las Vegum in level Luxor. He also appears in Tonic Trouble in Sky Slop and in the credits.

Reception

In 1995, Rayman won the Nintendo Power award for "Best New Character".

External links

• Rayman Pirate-Community
• RayWiki, a free wiki encyclopedia about Rayman
• Rayman Fanpage (in bilingual German and English)