Shoedsackovskaïa family

Shoedsackovskaïa family
Count Razoff Count Razoff
Other names	{{{other names}}}
Alignment	Bad, Unknown
Appears in	R3
Location	{{{location}}}
Portrayed by	{{{portrayed by}}}
Sex	{{{sex}}}
Species	Unknown (similar to to race of Inspector Grub from The Animated Series; may be part-divine through Artemis)
Status	{{{status}}}
Relatives	{{{relatives}}}
Unlock criteria	{{{Unlock criteria}}}

The Shoedsackovskaïa family is a royal family of maniac hunters. Known members include Nimrod, Artemis, Zaroff and Count Razoff. Most of the information regarding the Shoedsackovskaïa family comes from Rayman 3’s in-game pause screen, the official Rayman 3 website, and the French dossier presse booklet that was released to tie in with the game.

As of Rayman 3, Count Razoff is said to be the last descendant of the family, implying that Nimrod and Zaroff (and possibly Artemis) are dead.

A Shoedsackovskaïa family tradition is that each member of the family must leave home and settle in the Bog of Murk, only returning home after successfully hunting an exotic creature. It seems that Nimrod's prey was the Abominable Geranium of the Seas of Cockatoo, while Zaroff's prey was, in fact, the Space Mama of Picture City, who appeared as a boss in the first Rayman game. Count Razoff attempted to make Rayman his 'exotic prey' (going so far as to say ‘I've always wanted a Rayman-skin rug’, implying that he has had his sights on Rayman for some time), but Rayman defeated Razoff when attacked by him in Razoff's mansion in the Bog of Murk. As a female who married into the family, Artemis may have been exempt from this tradition.

The name of each member of the Shoedsackovskaïa family is in some way a reference to hunting. A hunter named General Zaroff appears in Richard Connell's short story, The Most Dangerous Game, the plot of which bears some resemblance to Rayman's encounter with Count Razoff in the Bog of Murk. However, it is possible that the game's characters were inspired by the 1932 film adaptation rather than the original story; in the story, Zaroff is a general, but in the film he is a count, like Razoff. Additionally, the name ‘Razoff’ is simply ‘Zaroff’ with the ‘R’ and the ‘Z’ switched around. In the Old Testament, Nimrod, who was said to be responsible for the construction of the Tower of Babel, is referred to as ‘a mighty hunter before the Lord’. And in Greek mythology, Artemis was the goddess of hunting (it is, however, unknown if this reference to a goddess is of any real significance or connection to other known deities of the Glade of Dreams, such as Polokus and the Leptys).

The witch Bégoniax is infatuated with Razoff, and is eventually seen forcing her affection upon him in his dungeon in the Bog of Murk. As such, the fate of the last surviving member of the Shoedsackovskaïa family is uncertain. Bégoniax has been known to transform the men who reject her love into toads, and then breed with them, producing a great number of tadpoles – it is possible that this was Razoff's final fate. However, the minigame Crush, which takes place after the events of Rayman 3, depicts Razoff successfully fighting off an invasion of his home by Bégoniax and her toads.