Thursday 1 January 2015

Video Game Character of the Month - January 2015 - Rayman - Rayman

Video Game Character of the Month
January 2015
Rayman
Rayman
Overview:
Ah Rayman, the limbless wonder. Just how can you survive, let alone function? Who knows? I'd ask him but I'm afraid he's sleeping and I'd have to waken Polokus as well which could cause a few problems. So, I'm afraid that I'll just have to go with what I've got. (Oh and I know this was meant to be a Christmas themed VGCOTM but, well, you try to find a Christmas themed character that deserves the award! Anyway, Rayman has certainly been in some Christmas themed levels, I'm sure).
A quick bit of info on Rayman: 



His arms, legs and heads are not physically attached to him and instead float next to him.
He can use his hair as a helicopter
He has the ability to shoot energy from his hands
He has an unhealthy appetite for Lums (wait, does he eat them?) 
He has a ring on his shirt with magical powers
He likes to help Teensies 
His best friend is Globox
He might be in a romantic relationship with Ly the Fairy
He has had a few encounters with the Rabbids 
He appears to exist in the human world as well as the Glade of Dreams
He appears to be a teenager
He could be the Chosen One
His parents are unknown
He has an evil version of himself known only as... 'Dark Rayman'! DUN, DUN, DUN!

Origin of Rayman:
Rayman was originally developed by Michel Ancel for his first game when he joined Ubisoft. He was made to have a big nose, beady eyes and to be made from simple geometric shapes as Ancel felt that 'it was quite simple, but funny at the same time'. In the games his creation is a little less simple. Rayman 2 states that Rayman was found by fishermen (after being washed up on the shore of the Sea of Lums) before winning the people of the Glade of Dreams trust by defeating Mr Dark. He is also the only one not dreamed into existence by Polokus and could by the Chosen one selected by all the Gods to help defend the world against evil. However, in Rayman Origins, it is stated that he was, in fact, created from moonbeams by Betilla the Fairy in the Primordial Forest, once again created to defend the Glade of Dreams from dark forces. However, the same game also states that Rayman was created by the nymphs, who, after being distracted by zombie chickens (of course) dropped a sack of Lums on the way to perform the ritual which resulted in Rayman's rather, incomplete form. 

Evolution of Rayman:

Rayman has developed quite a bit over the course of his games such as by developing the ability to throw balls of energy in Rayman 2 or being able to turn Black Lums into Red Lums with a grimace, (in Rayman 3) or losing one split in his hair (from three to two) after his first game. Then, after Rayman 3 his hair got even more wild, the lines on his face were changed, his torso was redesigned to look more rectangular, his bandanna became a hood and his sneakers developed a red spot on either side of them (Rayman Origins' sneakers are a combination of the designs before and after Rayman 3). He has also changed into costumes from Disco, Gangsta and Granny to Bunny suits in the Raving Rabbids games. Finally, in Rayman 3 he had gained new attacks such as: Heavy Metal Fists, a Propeller (well, his hair needs a break too, you know), a Missile Attack, a Chain and Tornado Gloves. 

Games:

Rayman/Rayman Advance/Rayman DSi: released (North America) on September 1, 1995/(Japan) on September 22, 1995/(Europe) on December 1, 1995 on PlayStation 1/(PAL) on May 29, 2008/(North America) on July 17, 2008/(Japan) on April 11, 2012 on PSN/(North America) on September 8, 1995 on the Atari Jaguar/(North America) in 1995/(Europe) on October 30, 1995/(Japan) on November 17, 1995/(North America) on the Sega Saturn/(North America) on April 30, 1996/(Europe) in 1996 on MS-DOS/(North America) on March, 2000/(Japan) on March 24, 2000/(Europe) in 2000 on the Game Boy Color/(North America) on June 10, 2001/(Europe) on June 22, 2001 on the Game Boy Advance/(North America) on December 7, 2009/(Europe) on December 25, 2009 on DSi Ware/(Japan) on July 25, 2012/(World Wide except Japan) on May 31, 2012. 
Rayman Designer: released (World Wide) in 1997 on PC and MS-DOS.
Rayman By His Fans: released (Unknown) in 1997 on PC
Rayman Gold: released (Word Wide) on September 28, 1997 on PC
Rayman Dictées: released (Unknown) in 1998 on PC
Rayman 60 Levels: released (Unknown) in 1998 on PC
English with Rayman: released (Unknown) in 1998 on PC
French with Rayman: released (Unknown) in 1998 on PC
Rayman Activity Center: released (Unknown) in 1999/2000 on PC
Rayman CP: released (Unknown) in 1999 on PC
Rayman SmartSaver: released (Unknown) in 1999 on PC
Rayman Collector: released (Unknown) in 1999 on PC
Rayman 2: The Great Escape/Rayman DS/Rayman 3D/Rayman 2 Forever: released (Europe) on 29 October, 1999/(North America) on 31 October, 1999 on the N64/(North America) on 31 October, 1999/(Europe) on 14 December, 1999 on PC/(Europe) in 2000/(North America) on 29 February, 2000/(Japan) on 23 March, 2000 on the Sega Dreamcast/(Europe) on 8 September, 2000/(North America) on 15 September, 2000/(Australia) in 2000 on the PlayStation 1/(North America) on 18 December, 2008/(Europe) on 28 July, 2010 on PSN/(Europe) on 22 December, 2000/(North America) on 30 January, 2001/(Japan) on 31 May, 2001 on PlayStation 2/(North America) on 1 May 2012 on PSN/(North America) in June 2001/(Europe) on 14 December, 2001 on the Game Boy Color/(Europe) on 11 March, 2005/(Australia) in March, 2005/(North America) on 24 March, 2005 on the Nintendo DS/(World Wide) on 1 March, 2010 on iOS/(Europe) on 25 March, 2011/(North America) on 27 March, 2011/(Australia) on 31 March, 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS
Rayman 100 Levels: released (Unknown) in 1999 on PC
Rayman Junior: released (Europe) in 2000/(North America) on 11 August, 2001 on PlayStation and PC
Rayman Revolution: released (Unknown) in 2000 on PC
Rayman M/Rayman Arena: released (Europe) on 30 November, 2001/(North America) on 24 September, 2002 on PlayStation 2/(North America) on 31 August, 2001 on PC/(North America) on 24 September, 2002 on GameCube and Xbox
My First Rayman: released (Unknown) in 2001 on PC
Rayman Rush: released (Europe) on March 8, 2002/(North America) on March 26, 2002 on PlayStation
Rayman Golf: released (North America) on July 2, 2002 on Mobile Phone (Java ME)
Rayman Bowling: released (Unknown) in 2002 on Mobile Phone (Java ME)
Rayman Garden: released (Unknown) in 2002 on Mobile Phone (Java ME)
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc: released (Europe) on 21 February 2002/(North America) on 2 March, 2002 on GameCube and Game Boy Advance/(Europe) on 14 March 2003/(North America) on 17 March 2003 on PlayStation 2/(Europe) on 14 March 2003/(North America) on 18 March 2003 on Xbox/(Europe) on 21 March, 2003/(North America) on 24 March, 2003 on PC/(North America) on 11 December, 2003/(Europe) on 21 January, 2004 on N-Gage/(World Wide) on 6 February, 2004 on OS X/(North America) on 20 March, 2012/(PAL) on 21 March, 2012 on PSN/(North America) on 21 March 2012/(PAL) on 21 March, 2012 on Xbox Live Arcade
Rayman Hoodlum's Revenge: released (North America) on 15 March 2005/(Europe) on 18 March, 2005 on Game Boy Advance
Rayman raving Rabbids: released (North America) on 14 November, 2006/(Australia) on 7 December, 2006/(Europe) on 8 December, 2006 on Game Boy Advance/(North America) on 19 November, 2006/(Australia) on 7 December, 2006/(Europe) 8 December, 2006/(Japan) on 14 December, 2006 on the Wii/(North America) on 5 December, 2006/(Australia) on 7 December, 2006/(Europe) on 8 December, 2006 on PlayStation 2/(Europe) on 8 December, 2006/(Australia) on 7 December, 2006/(North America) on 11 December, 2006 on PC/(North America) on 6 March, 2007/(Australia) on 15 March 2007/(Europe) on 16 March, 2007 on Nintendo DS/(Europe) on 6 April, 2007/(North America) on 24 April, 2007 on Xbox 360
Rayman Kart: released (Unknown) in 2007 on Mobile Phone (Java ME)
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2: released (North America) on 13 November, 2007/(Australia) on 15 November, 2007/(Europe) on 16 November, 2007 on the Wii/(North America) on 13 November, 2007/(Europe) on 16 November, 2007/(Australia) on 22 November, 2007 on the Nintendo DS
Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party: released (Europe) on 13 November, 2008/(Australia) on 14 November, 2008/(North America) on 18 November, 2008/(Japan) on 22 January, 2009 on the Wii and Nintendo DS
Rayman Origins: released (North America) on 15 November, 2011 /(Australia) on 24 November, 2011/(Europe) on 25 November, 2011/(Japan) on 12 April, 2012 on PlayStation 3/(North America) on 15 November, 2011 /(Australia) on 24 November, 2011/(Europe) on 25 November, 2011 on Wii and Xbox 360/(North America) on 15 February, 2012/(Europe) on 22 February, 2012/(Australia) on 23 February, 2012/(Japan) on 12 April, 2012 on PlayStation Vita/(North America) on 29 March, 2012/(Australia) on 29 March, 2012/(Europe) on 30 March, 2012 on PC/(Europe) on 8 June, 2012/(Australia) on 14 June, 2012/(Japan) on 19 July, 2012/(North America) on 6 November, 2012 on the Nintendo 3DS/(Unknown) on December 12, 2013 on OS X
Rayman: Slap Flap, and Go!: (Unknown) on Flash
Rayman Jungle Run: released (World Wide) on 20 September, 2012 on iOS/27 September, 2012 on Android
Rayman Online Challenges App: released (World Wide) on 25 April, 2013 on Wii U eShop
Rayman Legends: released (Australia) on 29 August, 2013/(Europe) on 30 August, 2013/(North America) on 3 September, 2013 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360/(Australia) on 29 August, 2013/(Europe) on 30 August, 2013/(North America) on 3 September, 2013/(Japan) on 17 October, 2013 on the Wii U/(North America) on 3 September, 2013/(Australia) on 13 September, 2013/(Europe) on 13 September, 2013.(Japan) on 24 April, 2014 on PlayStation Vita/(North America) on 18 February, 2014/(Europe) on 21 February, 2014/(China) on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Rayman Legends Music Beatbox App: released (World Wide) on 23 August, 2013 on the Internet, iOS and Android
Rayman Fiesta run: released (World Wide) on 7 November, 2013 on iOS and Android
Asterix & Obelix XXXL 2: Mission: Las Vegum: released (Unknown) on 16 October, 2005 on PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS
Tonic Trouble: released (North America) on 31 August, 1999/(Europe) on October 24, 1999 on N64/(Europe) in 2000 on Game Boy Color/(North America) on 6 December, 1999 on PC
Super Smash Bros. For Wii U: released (North America) on 21 November, 2014/(Europe) on 28 November, 2014/(Australia) on 29 November, 2014/(Japan) on 6 December, 2014 on Wii U

That's all on Rayman but if I have made any mistakes or you know of any more information about him, then please don't hesitate to comment! And, as always, if you know of a character that deserves the award then please comment that as well!

Goodbye for now, Harry 

Sources:
Wikipedia

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