Prickly ball

Prickly balls, also known as spiky balls, are dangerous stage hazards which feature in the Rayman series.

In Rayman and its spin-offs

In the original Rayman game, prickly balls exist in various sizes. The most common kind, of small size, possesses eyes and randomly looks around itself: they are found in all worlds but the Dream Forest and Picture City. The other kind, of much larger size, has no eyes and is sometimes attached to a chain, which is made of three small ones with blank eyes. If it is not already spinning, Rayman can knock it with his fist but he must be careful not to get hurt. They are only found in the Blue Mountains and the Caves of Skops.

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  Rayman on a turnstile, surrounded by prickly balls.
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  Rayman can punch those giant prickly balls to make them spin.
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  A large prickly ball.

In Rayman Junior

In the Maths and English with Rayman games, there are also red prickly balls of both sizes, and if Rayman touches them, he will instantly lose a life. These red prickly balls usually appear on top of Rayman, or otherwise unavoidably in his path, when he selects an incorrect answer to a question. Occasionally, they instead block his path initially, then disappear after he selects the correct answer.

Red prickly balls fail to kill Rayman if he has just obtained a new life in the same frame when he touches them. This can be demonstrated in a hacked version of Rayman Designer by simply placing a life near a red prickly ball. It can also occur in Maths and English with Rayman if Rayman collects a Ting corresponding to a wrong answer while his Ting count is at 49. The fiftieth Ting will cause him to obtain a new life, triggering the glitch.

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  Red prickly balls must be avoided at all costs.

In Rayman Designer

In Rayman Designer, a green version of the small prickly balls appears in the Jungle world. Except for the color, there are no differences with the blue ones. The blue ones however still appear in the other worlds, except for the Image world, with several variants.

• Steady prickly ball (known simply as Prickly ball in the Jungle world where it also appears green and as Stationary prickly ball in the Cake world.) - Appears in place.
• Horizontal prickly ball - Moves horizontally.
• Vertical prickly ball - Moves vertically.
• Prickly ball in rotation - Moves in rotation.
• Zigzag prickly ball - Moves in zigzag.
• Prickly ball - A big prickly ball.
• Constant prickly swing - A big prickly ball which constantly swings.
• Activatable prickly swing - A big prickly ball which swings when punched.

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  Green prickly balls, exclusively seen in the Jungle world.

In the Game Boy Color version of Rayman

In the Game Boy Color version of Rayman, prickly balls come in four colors and two sizes and share the same function as the ones which appear in the original Rayman game.

The smaller version can be either static or follow a predefined trajectory, often horizontal or vertical but sometimes more complex. The larger version is only found attached to a chain, and Rayman can make them spin by punching them.

Blue prickly balls do not have a large version and are only found in Airy Tunes. Brown prickly balls come in both small and large versions and appear in Rocky Peaks. Orange prickly balls also come in both versions and are found in Fiery Depths, with a unique variation of the large prickly ball which swings on its own like a pendulum, similarly to prickly fruits, and only appears in the second part. Finally, yellow prickly balls, both small and large, are found in Dark Legacy on all platforms, as well as in the last part of Rocky Peaks on Game Boy Color, but not on Pocket PC or Palm OS where they are brown like in the rest of the level.

In a promotional screenshot from an early version of the game, a small, blue prickly ball attached to a chain is shown to appear in Rocky Peaks. It was however cut from the final game.

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  Blue prickly balls in Airy Tunes
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  A brown prickly ball attached to a chain in Rocky Peaks
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  An orange prickly ball attached to a chain in Fiery Depths
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  Yellow prickly balls next to a red prickly fruit in Dark Legacy
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  A small, blue prickly ball attached to a chain in an early version of Rocky Peaks

In Rayman 2 Forever

A subset of the prickly balls found in the Game Boy Color version of Rayman also appear in Rayman 2 Forever, the Game Boy Color version of Rayman 2.

They include the small brown prickly balls and the large, orange prickly balls that swing on their own like pendulums, similarly to prickly fruits. They are only found in the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire.

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  The large orange prickly balls behave in a similar fashion to prickly fruits from the original Rayman game.

Names in other languages

Language	Name
English	Prickly ball
French	Boule piquante
German	Stachliger Ball

Language	Name
English	Prickly swing
French	Balancier piquant
German	Stachliges Pendel