#42. Rayman

Lore

Champion of the Glade of Dreams

“Long ago the Primordial Forest, deep and mysterious, witnessed the birth of a man… a vegetable… no, no, no: a thingamajig. Conjured from the magnificent moonbeams of the second summer solstice, woven together by us, the nymphs, destined to preserve the equilibrium of the sacred universe, the one we call: Rayman!”

– Betilla the Fairy, Origins

“Have you seen the new guy? Things are getting weird around here.”
“You’re an actual cat.”
“That’s fair.” 

– Asuri and Jhala

As the story goes...

The Glade of Dreams is once again under threat from the nefarious Mr. Dark, and once again, Polokus, the Bubble Dreamer, has called upon Rayman to save the day. From Polokus, Rayman learned that the only way to defeat Mr. Dark was to find the lost Horn of Lums.

Setting forth on his quest, Rayman ventured deep, deep into the forest. One day, after long travel and many adventures, Rayman emerged into a wide clearing. High on a hill he saw the huge golden hall and heard the roar of a vast crowd. Entering, Rayman was met by the sight of the Grand Tournament of Valhalla in full swing. Among the throng of cheering spectators, Rayman saw the god Odin wearing a “Sentinel #1” baseball cap and a Sir Roland jersey (it was 2v2s-day). Next to Odin sat the Tournament’s glorious pile of prizes. Sitting on top of the pile was the Horn of Lums.

Without hesitation, Rayman entered the tournament. That he would be battling the greatest warriors of every time and place bothered him not at all, and he quickly showed himself to be one of the best. But even for Rayman, victory will not come easy.

Rayman is fighting hard to win the Horn and complete his quest, but he also loves the wild ruckus of Valhalla, and feels right at home among the bizarre cast of legendary warriors. He is especially good friends with Kaya and has a truly amazing handshake with Kor that only they can do.

Connections

•  (No mentions of Rayman in other legends' lore pages have yet been found)

Context

Nintendo has Mario. SEGA has Sonic. Other companies have Pac-Man, Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, and more. Ubisoft has Rayman!

I'm gonna be honest: I don't have any substantive experience with this character. I've played an hour or so of Rayman 2 at a hotel once, and I've played the demo for Rayman Legends on the Nintendo Switch. I enjoyed them both. Therefore, I will be relying on what appear to be the best sources for all things Rayman: RayWiki and Rayman Wiki.

This video, at 1:07, explains that Rayman got his name from the ray tracing software that was being used at Ubisoft during the character's development. Rayman's franchise consists of Rayman, Rayman 2, Rayman 3, some Rabbids spinoffs, Rayman Origins, and Rayman Legends, Rayman Adventures, as well as quite a few cameo and guest appearances (including Brawlhalla!).

Rayman's origin story can be found here, a trailer for the Rayman Origins game.

Rayman's official inclusion into Brawlhalla was announced after BMG was acquired by Ubisoft Studios. It also has some interesting implications for the lore. Somehow, the Glade of Dreams is connected to Valhalla, probably through the Fangwild Forest. That's how all other realms seem to be connected to Valhalla, and Rayman's lore does say that he ventured "deep, deep into the forest," finding Valhalla after "long travel and many adventures." That implies that an entire Rayman game's worth of adventures or more could have happened during this journey. So, if Rayman's world can be connected to the Brawlhalla universe, think of the possibilities (at least, regarding other Ubisoft games)!

In case you were wondering, Globox has been part of the Rayman franchise since Rayman 2, and is Rayman's best friend. Barbara debuted in Rayman Legends, and is a playable character (along with Globox) in Rayman Adventures.

Are axe and gauntlets good weapons for Rayman? Gauntlets are a no-brainer. In his games, Rayman frequently uses his fists to punch and grab, taking advantage of the fact that he has no arms to limit his reach. He's never really seen using an axe (as far as I know), but his friend Barbara wields an axe, and she can "skate" on her axe as well, a move she must have taught to Rayman (as evidenced by his axe ssig).