Rayman (character)

An early sketch of Rayman.

Rayman is the creation of French video game developer Michel Ancel, who was born in 1972. Around 1980, the eight-year-old Ancel began playing video games. Five years later, he began to create his own simple logic games, featuring characters that he invented himself. He often sketched character concepts on table corners, and around 1992, he came up with his favourite character so far: Rayman. Ancel left Rayman without any arms, legs or neck, making the character very easy to animate, as well as opening up unique gameplay possibilities, such as the telescopic fist. Ancel worked as a graphic artist and programmer on a string of Lankhor and Ubi Soft games in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1992, he and a small team of developers began production on a Super Nintendo game starring his Rayman character. Eventually it was decided to scrap this project, and rework it into an Atari Jaguar game, which was eventually released in 1995. By the end of the game's development cycle, the team had grown to contain dozens of members.

A number of interviews with Ubisoft developers were posted on official websites in the period leading up to the release of Rayman 2. In one interview, Rayman creator Michel Ancel revealed the inspirations behind the character. He states Rayman 2 was inspired by Russian, Chinese and Celtic stories that he read as a child. These elements form the ‘fantastic background’ which comprises the Glade of Dreams, but ‘a more contemporary and cartoonish touch’ has been added.[3] Ancel goes on to say that the concept of the game's world is similar to that of The Dark Crystal, which shares ‘its magic and its Celtic universe’. The cartoonish aspects were inspired by the works of Tex Avery. Ancel states that ‘Rayman is a true high-performance hero who keeps a good sense of humour like Indiana Jones. Rayman is a rebel, fighting against mighty bad guys like in Star Wars or Robin Hood’. This suggests that the villains of Ancel's Rayman games – Mr Dark and Admiral Razorbeard – may have been inspired by the likes of Darth Vader and the Sheriff of Nottingham. The character of Indiana Jones is also referenced by Rayman's co-creator Frédéric Houde and the original game co-designer Serge Hascoët. According to a 2011 interview with the director of the Pix'n Love magazine (which has published numerous Rayman-related articles), Ancel took the name ‘Rayman’ from the ray-tracing software which Ubisoft happened to be using during the development of the original game.

Several conflicting accounts have been given for Rayman's origins. During the development of the original game, the developers considered a story in which a ten-year-old boy named Jimmy created a world called Hereitscool inside his computer, and became Rayman once he was sucked into it. This idea was quickly abandoned. When the original game was released in 1995, Rayman's backstory was left ambiguous, although he already appears to be an established hero within his world by the beginning of the game. The manual states that he is "the guardian of this world". The manual of Rayman 2 does however contain a different account of Rayman's origins. It tells of Rayman's first appearance in the Glade of Dreams, sometime before the events of the original game. In this version of the story, he is discovered by fishermen, who for some reason does not seem to have encountered his species before.

A revised origin story for Rayman was revealed at the E3 expo of 2010, when Ubisoft showed a trailer for the upcoming game Rayman Origins. The trailer showed the creation of Rayman by Betilla the Fairy. At this point in its development, Rayman Origins was intended as a two-player episodic downloadable prequel to the series, but it was eventually retooled into a four-player sequel with a retail release. A final, slightly modified version of Rayman's origin story was eventually offered on the official Rayman Origins website in November 2011, and can also be found in the game's manual. It is not specified whether this story is intended to replace or complement the one from the Rayman 2 manual.

The PlayStation Vita version of the game contains two mosaics which can be viewed when the player collects enough relics. One of these mosaics tells a story about Rayman's past. Long ago, Rayman was completely bald, and had a wife or girlfriend of his own species. One night, as they slept together in a forest, a colony of tiny blonde hair creatures crept up on Rayman and fused themselves into his head. Rayman's female companion, frightened by this strange turn of events, attempted to cut Rayman's hair with a pair of scissors. The terrified hairs pulled at Rayman's head, forcing him to flee, and he fell over the edge of a cliff, apparently to his doom; however, he was saved by his new hair, which gave him the ability to fly like a helicopter.

Since Rayman debuted on the Atari Jaguar in 1995, he has become a popular video game character, along with his trademark helicopter hair and lack of limbs.

When Rayman was released in 1995, Rayman's backstory was left ambiguous, although he already appears to be an established hero within his world by the beginning of the game. The manual of the game states that he is "the guardian of this world".

However, the manual for Rayman 2 states that Rayman was found by fishermen, having washed up on the shore of the Sea of Lums, and won the trust of the people of the Glade of Dreams by defeating Mr Dark. Upon collecting all 1,000 Lums in the game, the player is told that Rayman is the only being in the Glade not to be dreamt into existence by Polokus, and that his origins and the identity of his parents are a mystery. It is speculated (in the game) that Rayman could be a "chosen one" selected by all the gods of all the worlds, destined to fight against evil.

A different account is provided by Rayman Origins: the launch trailer shows him being created from moonbeams by Betilla the Fairy in the Primordial Forest, destined from creation to protect the Glade of Dreams from Dark forces. The game's manual states that Rayman was created by the nymphs, who dropped a sack of Lums when distracted by some "zombie chickens" on the way to perform the ritual, resulting in Rayman's incomplete, limbless form.

Throughout his adventures, Rayman has accumulated a number of allies. The original game introduces the Magician, Tarayzan, the Musician, and Joe the Extra-Terrestrial, Bzzit the Mosquito, and Betilla the Fairy. Meanwhile, Rayman 2 introduces a largely new cast including the bumbling Globox, the helpful flying greenbottle Murfy, the numerous Teensies, and the mystical Ly the Fairy.

Rayman appears in Tonic Trouble's Ski Slope level and end credits.

In Beyond Good And Evil, another Ubisoft game developed by Michel Ancel, there is a hidden reference to the Rayman games: a distinctive pink mosquito can be found on the nose of a dead cow in the factory level named "Aedes Raymanis".

Rayman, Globox and Barbara appear as skin costume for the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft

He also appears as a collectible trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, appearing as a fully rendered model sent to the developers by Ubisoft themselves along with Globox and Barbara.[4] Rayman appear as a playable character in Brawlhalla.[5] Rayman appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a spirit.