Mr Dark: Difference between revisions

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==In ''[[Rayman Origins]]''==
==In ''[[Rayman Origins]]''==
The second trailer of [[Rayman Origins]] shows a brief glimpse of a [[Teensie]] with a top hat and a black robe, standing on a stone platform, surrounded by [[Darktoon]]s and [[Psychlops]]. Several months later, a more clear artwork of the character was released, and the official website confirmed him to be Mr Dark, stating "''The archenemy from Rayman 1 returns.''". Like [[Betilla the Fairy]] and the other returning ''Rayman'' characters, Mr Dark seems to have been redesigned somewhat for this game, and is no longer limbless. In-game, there are no references to Mr Dark making a plan to take over the Glade of Dreams as in previous games, as the game doesn't seem to have a fixed plot or a real main enemy. However, in the level "[[The Reveal]]", the [[Magician]] is discovered by the heroes as the responsible for the evil steampunk empire in the ''Moody Clouds''. He in response pulls off the star of his top hat, showing more clearly his resemblance with the artwork of Mr Dark, and possibly, revealing to have been Mr Dark the whole time and been faking a friendship with Rayman.
The second trailer of [[Rayman Origins]] shows a brief glimpse of a [[Teensie]] with a top hat and a black robe, standing on a stone platform, surrounded by [[Darktoon]]s and [[Psychlops]]. Several months later, a more clear artwork of the character was released, and the official website confirmed him to be Mr Dark, stating "''The archenemy from Rayman 1 returns.''". Like [[Betilla the Fairy]] and the other returning ''Rayman'' characters, Mr Dark seems to have been redesigned somewhat for this game, and is no longer limbless. In-game, there are no references to Mr Dark making a plan to take over the Glade of Dreams as in previous games, as the game doesn't seem to have a fixed plot or a real main enemy. However, in the level "[[The Reveal]]", the [[Magician]] is discovered by the heroes as the responsible for the evil steampunk empire in the [[Moody Clouds]]. He in response pulls off the star of his top hat, showing more clearly his resemblance with the artwork of Mr Dark, and possibly, revealing to have been Mr Dark the whole time, faking a friendship with Rayman.


However, there are many issues that make unclear this possibility, as an early script of the game shows scrapped dialogues indicating that the Magician was not intended to be Mr Dark, but a fan of him, loosely pretending to be as mysterious and evil as him. It is possible that this idea was scrapped like several other material from the script, and the Magician is actually Mr Dark's alter ego. However, there are several posters in the Magician's headquarter, some with pictures of Mr Dark's silhouette, and one with a picture of a heart and the word "Mr. D" written down, suggesting that possibly the idea wasn't scrapped at all.  
However, there are many issues that make unclear this possibility, as an early script of the game shows scrapped dialogues indicating that the Magician was not intended to be Mr Dark, but a fan of him, loosely pretending to be as mysterious and evil as him. It is possible that this idea was scrapped like several other material from the script, and the Magician is actually Mr Dark's alter ego. However, there are several posters in the Magician's headquarter, some with pictures of Mr Dark's silhouette, and one with a picture of a heart and the word "Mr. D" written down, suggesting that possibly the idea wasn't scrapped at all.  

Revision as of 05:05, 4 December 2011

Mr Dark
Mr Dark
Alignment Bad

Appears in Rayman, Rayman (GBC), Rayman Junior, Rayman Origins
Location Mr Dark's Dare, Arcane Forest, The Reveal

Portrayed by Douglas Rand (Rayman; unconfirmed)

Douglas Rand (Rayman Origins)


Resistance 24 HP (original version)

12 HP (Atari Jaguar version)

9 HP (Game Boy Color version)

Attacks Summoning Bad Rayman, reversing the player's left–right controls, forcing Rayman to run uncontrollably, stealing Rayman's telescopic fist, creating twin fireballs which must be dodged, creating and controlling pillars of flame, transforming into hybrids of the previous five bosses, summoning a rain of small fireballs, summoning large fireballs, curling into a large or small electrical ball, summoning lightning strikes

Sex {{{sex}}}
Species Teensie

Relatives {{{relatives}}}
You're doomed, Rayman!
—Mr Dark, Rayman
The archenemy from Rayman 1 returns. A stupedendous super villain, it was Mr Dark who stole the Great Protoon and sent the Electoons scattering from its orbit. This series of events upset the harmonic balance of Rayman’s world and a heroic fight followed.
—Official site, Rayman Origins

Mr Dark is Rayman's arch-nemesis, and a major character in the Rayman series. A diabolical and mysterious shape-shifting sorcerer, Mr Dark has attempted to disrupt the balance of the Glade of Dreams on several occasions, but is always thwarted by Rayman. He usually hides beneath a shadowy cloak and hat. His first appearance is as the main antagonist and final boss in the original Rayman game. He is encountered in Mr Dark's Dare, the first and only level of the Candy Château, which is the last of the game's six worlds. He is a mysterious being that steals the Great Protoon because of its immense power, causing the world to lose its natural stability. He also uses his powers to defeat Betilla the Fairy, who tries to defend the Great Protoon but is overpowered. At a later point of the game, Mr Dark kidnaps her and traps her in a crystal ball. Mr Dark also makes a significant appearance in Rayman Junior, an educational spin-off of the original game. Mr Dark returns to the main series in Rayman Origins, where he is revealed to be a Teensie.


In Rayman

Mr Dark watching Rayman from the top of a hill.

Before fighting Rayman, Mr Dark casts strange spells on him as he makes progress through Candy Château, such as creating Bad Rayman, reversing Rayman's movements, making him run uncontrollably and eventually stealing his telescopic fist. Following this, by the time Rayman reaches his hideout, he tries to destroy him by trapping him between deadly walls of fire and throws fire balls at him. When his situation seems desperate, a group of Electoons rescue Rayman by giving him back his telescopic fist. The final battle then begins: Rayman must battle Mr Dark, who transforms into hybrids of the previous five bosses. These hybrids each have Mr Dark's face as their resistance icon.

The first transformation is a mixture of Mr Stone and Mr Skops. His is compoised of Mr Stone's body, feet and right hand, together with Mr Skops' head and claw. His only attack consists of hurling his claw at Rayman, which he can jump over and punch him in the face. If Rayman attempts to punch him too early, the monster will block his face with his claw. It is possible, with a certain timing and dexterity, to hit him up to three times per turn. After he has suffered eight blows to the face, the monster vanishes.

Mr Dark fighting Rayman at the end of the original game

The second transformation is a pair of identical monsters. Each one appears to be made of Moskito's body and Space Mama's head and feet (as seen in her first appearance in Eraser Plains), along with her hands and rolling pin, which fires lasers (as seen in her second appearance in Space Mama's Crater. Their only attack is shooting lasers, which Rayman can jump over or duck under. If both of them shoot at the same height, the lasers collide each other, morph into one laser, and fall straight down towards the ground, which can be difficult for Rayman to avoid if he is ducking. When Rayman gets the chance, he can punch either one of the two. It is also possible to trick them into shooting one another. Both monsters share a single resistance bar; it is possible to defeat them both by punching only one. When they have been damaged eight times, the monsters vanish.

The third and final transformation is a mixture of Mr Sax, Space Mama, and Moskito. He is composed of Space Mama's body, Mr Sax's feet and hands and Moskito's head. This monster's only attack is jumping about with the use of Mr Sax's feet. At the start of this fight, Rayman is shrunk to the same size he would have been had he touched a Flying Blue Elf. As the monster tries to stomp him, Rayman must use his running ability to avoid getting squashed. Whenever the monster hits the ground, Rayman is bounced up into the air by the impact, giving him a chance punch the monster in Moskito's face, which is his only weak spot.

Once the third transformation has suffered eight punches, he vanishes, and Rayman is returned to his normal size. It would seem that Mr Dark was defeated by the final punch to the head of the third form, and fled the château once beaten.

The Atari Jaguar version makes it more explicit that these hybrids are transformations of Mr Dark. In this version, the Moskito/Space Mama hybrids are absent, so the fight consists of only two rounds: the first against the Mr Stone/Mr Skops mixture, and the second against the Moskito/Mr Sax/Space Mama mixture. The two monsters share a single health bar with Mr Dark's face as its icon: when half of the first monster's health is depleted, he clicks his claw several times, creating a shower of sparks, then walks off the screen, visibly sweating. The final monster then appears, with half of his health already gone. (Rayman is not shrunk in this version, and does not need to be bounced into the air in order to punch his head). Once all of his health has been depleted, it looks straight at the camera, sweats, and flies straight into the air. Electoon icons fly across the screen as Rayman celebrates his victory.

Mr Dark's first transformation: a mixture of Mr Stone and Mr Skops.
Mr Dark's second transformation: mixtures of Moskito and Space Mama.
Mr Dark's third transformation: a mixture of Moskito, Mr Sax and Space Mama.

In the Game Boy Color version of Rayman

Mr Dark as he appears in the the Game Boy Color version of Rayman
Mr Dark holding a cage of captured Toons in the Game Boy Color version

In the Game Boy Color release of Rayman, Mr Dark has imprisoned the Toons and uses their power for himself, throwing the world into darkness and chaos. Unlike the original, he does not transform himself when he engages in a final boss battle with Rayman. In between each level he can also be seen watching Rayman though a crystal ball.

In Arcane Forest, he casts two spells on Rayman, the first one summoning Bad Rayman, and the second one reversing Rayman's controls.

Mr Dark fighting Rayman on a high peak at the end of the game

The final battle starts out with Mr Dark shielding himself from Rayman's fist with three bubble-like balls. Then, he slowly rises up, and when he is off screen, he rains fire upon him from above. After ten to fifteen fire balls are dropped, he descends back down to the stage, while still having the shield around himself, and turns into a ball. While in ball form, he randomly floats around the stage trying to ram Rayman. His objective is to hit him while he is in ball form three times. But as he hits him, he gets smaller and smaller, and becomes harder to hit. After hitting him three times, a heart appears at the top of the stage so he can replenish his health. Mr Dark turns back to normal, and then he floats off screen again.

This time, Mr Dark throws ten meteors at Rayman, two at a time. Then, he does the same routine as before: he comes back down, and turns into a ball. But this time, he will stay in ball form for a shorter period than before, and if Rayman can't manage to hit him three times within the time limit, he will turn back to normal and float back up into the sky to throw meteors at him again. If Rayman does hit him three times, a heart will appear once again, and he will rise back up into the sky to unleash his final attack.

This time, he shoots sixteen bolts of lightning. They are shot at the step he was just above on the stage, and can be easily avoided by using the Helicopter to hover over a lower step for a short time. After the sixteen bolts of lightning are shot, he turns back into ball form. Then, the time he is in ball form for even shorter. But if Rayman manages to hit him three times before he turns back to normal, he has beaten him. He turns back to normal form, burns up, and a spirit shape appears, then he completely fades from existence.



Mr Dark as seen in Rayman Junior

In Rayman Junior

Mr Dark also appears in the educational version of Rayman, Rayman Junior, in which he steals the Magic Book of Knowledge from the Magician and destroys a map to his hideout in Candy Château. He casts the same spells on Rayman as he did in the original game, but due to the game's educational nature, he doesn't fight as a boss at all. Once Rayman has solved the riddles on the parchment showing the way to his hideout and been through his spells, Mr Dark doesn't appear any more and Rayman eventually finds the Book of Knowledge.


In Rayman Origins

The second trailer of Rayman Origins shows a brief glimpse of a Teensie with a top hat and a black robe, standing on a stone platform, surrounded by Darktoons and Psychlops. Several months later, a more clear artwork of the character was released, and the official website confirmed him to be Mr Dark, stating "The archenemy from Rayman 1 returns.". Like Betilla the Fairy and the other returning Rayman characters, Mr Dark seems to have been redesigned somewhat for this game, and is no longer limbless. In-game, there are no references to Mr Dark making a plan to take over the Glade of Dreams as in previous games, as the game doesn't seem to have a fixed plot or a real main enemy. However, in the level "The Reveal", the Magician is discovered by the heroes as the responsible for the evil steampunk empire in the Moody Clouds. He in response pulls off the star of his top hat, showing more clearly his resemblance with the artwork of Mr Dark, and possibly, revealing to have been Mr Dark the whole time, faking a friendship with Rayman.

However, there are many issues that make unclear this possibility, as an early script of the game shows scrapped dialogues indicating that the Magician was not intended to be Mr Dark, but a fan of him, loosely pretending to be as mysterious and evil as him. It is possible that this idea was scrapped like several other material from the script, and the Magician is actually Mr Dark's alter ego. However, there are several posters in the Magician's headquarter, some with pictures of Mr Dark's silhouette, and one with a picture of a heart and the word "Mr. D" written down, suggesting that possibly the idea wasn't scrapped at all.

A picture of Mr Dark can be seen on the floor to the left at the ending of Rayman 3's 2D Madness minigame. This represents Mr Dark's only appearance in a 3D Rayman game to date.

In other games

Mr Dark is referred to by name in the manual for Rayman 2: The Great Escape, where it is revealed that his defeat at the hands of Rayman is what convinced the inhabitants of the Glade of Dreams that the hero was trustworthy. However, he makes no actual appearance in the game.

Previews of the cancelled 2D version of Rayman 2 mention that the Robo-Pirate invasion took place after Mr Dark fled Rayman's island following the events of the first game. It is not known if Mr Dark was ever planned to have a larger role in this game; other characters from the original, including Betilla the Fairy, were intended to make an appearance.

Mr Dark makes an almost unnoticeably subtle cameo appearance in Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc. At the end of the 2D Madness minigame, a few photographs from the original game are glimpsed briefly, and between them they show almost all of the game's characters, including Mr Dark. In addition, the design of the game's titular Hoodlum enemies was conceived as a visual mixture between Mr Dark and the Hunters.