G’day, folks, today we are comparing two pictures I drew of Razoff from Rayman 3, a rather…eccentric hunter who dwells in the Bog of Murk and who seems to dream of one day owning a “Rayman-skin rug”. My older picture is from 2012, in which I was inspired by Razoff’s many portraits. (Yes, the guy’s mansion is decorated quite profusely with pictures and statues of himself. Suffice it to say, he’s got an unhealthy obsession with his own mug.) My newest picture was done quite recently and includes one of my very rare backgrounds. I thought Razoff’s mansion would be a great place to practice some lighting and shading because the place is lit by all manner of fireplaces and candle-bearing chandeliers.
That’s right, I’ve got another batch of Inktober drawings to share with you guys! Or rather, the top drawings I did this past week (all of them can be found on Deviant Art). One of my pens is drying up, but it comes in handy for shadows now…. Continue reading Inktober 2019 Highlights Week 3→
Video games often have you do things that wouldn’t make sense in real life, and usually we don’t question it. I don’t even just mean the weird stuff, but the fact that we just direct our characters to go into peoples’ houses without permission, for example. Or we attack creatures that do nothing to us. The “Kirby” series comes to mind, as many enemies make no signs of aggression towards Kirby, but Kirby still attacks them. What have the Waddle Dees ever done to him, aside from the fact that touching them is harmful (which makes no sense)? It would be weird if you actually sustained physical harm from simply walking into someone, but then you still couldn’t just attack them. And in “The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword”, Link sleeps in other people’s beds, for quacking out loud! Have you no shame, sir?
Now while I could go on and on, I specifically was thinking of instances in the “Rayman” games. There are several times I can think of right now where Rayman seems to be more in the wrong than the enemies, which causes me to question our supposed hero’s own morals. I have three examples. And if you want to view the case against Rayman yourself, I have videos for the first two. (I finally figured out how to include them in a post.) Not the third. It takes a while. It can easily be found on youtube, though, if you wanted to see Rayman’s third crime.
My first example is the mockingbird boss in “Rayman: Origins”. It’s just sitting there sleeping, and Rayman goes up and pulls its hair or tail or something. Was that really necessary? After that, it goes crazy and starts to attack, which then apparently justifies us proceeding to pummel the thing. Maybe then Rayman is acting in self-defense, but what reason did he have to attack the poor thing in the first place? I would be freaked out, too, if someone assaulted me when I was sleeping. That does not make me a monster.
Next is the secret boss from “Rayman: Origins”. This poor beast, ugly as she is, is simply painting her nails a lovely shade of green when Rayman shows up. Then, Rayman jumps onto her arm, and she panics. She then tries simply to get Rayman off of her, as we would struggle to get a bug off of our bodies. Rayman has no pity in his (ice-cold?) heart of his, apparently, as he does his best to stay on her despite her best efforts to remove him, then proceeds to punch her in the face several times and eventually defeats her. Is this really proper behavior for our hero? Are we to believe that all things ugly must be evil? I think not. And yet Rayman’s behavior shows he feels otherwise.
And some may consider this last a bit questionable, but I still feel Rayman is in the wrong somewhat, and I have the reasoning to back it up. In “Rayman 3”, at the end of the Bog of Murk, Rayman proceeds to commit another crime by walking into someone’s mansion. (Which is done repeatedly and without shame in video games. Can heroes not knock? Is that too hard? Just because you’re on a quest to save the world from ruin doesn’t give you the right to violate the rights of others.) Anyway, that is not what is questionable here. Rayman is undeniably in the wrong. You can’t just walk into someone’s house even though the door is unlocked. Rayman.
Some may still argue, though, in Rayman’s defense. After all, the owner of the house, Razoff the hunter, apparently enjoys shooting at his visitors with a rifle and locking people in his dungeon, so we can conclude that this individual’s morals are in doubt, to say the least. But, at the same time, Rayman still went into someone else’s house without permission, and thus I at least defend Razoff in that he has every right to shoot at people that come onto his property. (I am not so sure if he can still make our hero into a “Rayman skin rug” for trespassing or stuff Rayman’s head and put it on his living room wall. That may cross the line. I don’t know. I’m not in law enforcement.) Nevertheless, Rayman still committed a crime deserving of punishment (such as being shot at, perhaps not stuffed), and then he proceeds to attack the owner of the house. Maybe in self-defense, but perhaps Rayman shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Hmm?
So after two (actually, three!) accounts of assault and one of trespassing, I have concluded that Rayman is undoubtedly a delinquent. While he does succeed in saving countless individuals from danger at the hands of such menaces as Mr. Dark and Admiral Razorbeard, he also causes the problems he seems to be against. Should we not hold our heroes to a higher standard? Just because of Rayman’s good deeds, that does not mean that he’s above the law. No, I think Rayman should be held accountable for his actions as much as he should be congratulated for his valor. It is only fair.
The Duck of Indeed 