Dark Magician

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• This article is about the character in Rayman fan games. For the similar characters in official games, see the Magician.

Dark Magician
The Dark Magician
Alignment	Bad
Appears in	Rayman: The Dark Magician's Reign of Terror, Rayman Redemption, Rayman ReDesigner
Location	Fiery Fort, Dark Stronghold, Dark Magician's Challenge
Portrayed by	{{{portrayed by}}}
Resistance	(Freeing the Magician and Dark Stronghold) (Final Showdown)
Attacks	Dark magic projectiles, fireballs, Magic Minion eggs, flames, dark shield, purple spiky balls
Sex	{{{sex}}}
Species	Unknown
Relatives	{{{relatives}}}

The Dark Magician is one of the main antagonists of Rayman: The Dark Magician's Reign of Terror, and a reoccuring character in Ryemanni's Rayman fangames. He is a powerful evil sorcerer created by the Great Protoon after it got corrupted by the Dark Storm. He can create evil entities such as Magic Minions, often having common traits such as red flesh and black vein-like details, having either a huge eye or no facial features, and being encountered by Rayman in the same games which feature the Dark Magician.

Description

Appearance

The Dark Magician in his first appearance.

The Dark Magician looks like an evil version of the Magician, having the same appearance as him but with typically malevolent colors, similarly to Dark Rayman compared to Rayman. His clothes and his staff are red and black, his buttons are grey, while his hair is of a very dark purple shade. After the Fiery Fort's events, he wields the Magician's blue staff alongside his own, which adds electricity-like particles of corresponding colors around the tips of his staves. In Rayman Redemption and Rayman ReDesigner, his looks were updated with a sinister pale grey skin, grey gloves, and black buttons, while his staff now appears dark purple like his hair with a rose tip.

Personality

The Dark Magician wishes to control the world and fill it with dark magic. He appears to revere the Dark Storm and to act on its behalf, as he yelled about taking over the Valley in the name of "the great darkness" the moment he was born, most likely referring to his creator.

He is cruel and sadistic, often laughing maniacally, which is the very first he did the moment he was born. He has no qualms in capturing the people and creatures he comes across, and greatly enjoys their suffering. He's not above making himself some allies, however, such as the mad professor Pascal whom he considers to be a dear friend, or the Reaper to whom he ordered to kill Rayman.

He's an extremely arrogant and prideful individual, often underestimating, demeaning and infantilizing his opponents. Most of the time, this results in him not taking any actions even after personally teleporting in front of his enemies to taunt them, as he very often does with Rayman until he gets bored of it. However, he can acknowledge their dedication if they prove persistent and capable enough such as Rayman, and granted him the "honor" of meeting at his throne for overcoming the Maze of Memories he created for him. In Rayman Redemption, he also respects Rayman enough to grant him a skin in his dark image as a reward for breaking all the cages in his challenge, promising he won't hold back the next time they meet before ultimately departing.

Abilities

The Dark Magician is an extremely powerful magic user, being strong enough to easily overpower and capture both Rayman and the Magician the first time they met. He's able to cast dangerous spells, such as dark magic orbs, flames, or fire bombs.

He can create dangerous entities such as Magic Minions, Savage Minion and Multi Minion, or nearly unbreakable obstacles such as magic walls or magic blocks, the first appearing alive and capable to observe what happens around it through its big eye. He can also subjugate incredibly powerful entities like Mr Smushy or the Reaper. He was also able to construct massive and perilous lairs very quickly while establishing his kingdom, such as Flint Jail, Fiery Fort and the Dark Stronghold.

The Dark Magician's final appearance, wielding the Magician's wand along his own.

Once he acquires the Magician's wand, his magic becomes only more potent, having twice the power as he claims. His abilities seem to greatly outmatch the likes of Mr Dark's by then, being able to cast hundreds of deadly spells in a torrent which can quickly overwhelm Rayman, including new ones like dark spiky balls, or to protect himself behind a magic shield.

In Rayman: The Dark Magician's Reign of Terror

I will take over this place for the great darkness!

—Dark Magician, Rayman: The Dark Magician's Reign of Terror

The eponymous antagonist of Rayman: The Dark Magician's Reign of Terror was created from the Great Protoon after it got struck by a giant red lightning bolt from the mysterious Dark Storm. The Dark Magician immediately started to build his kingdom, capturing the Electoons in cages and creating Magic Minions to do his bidding. He easily defeated and captured Rayman and the Magician when they both attempted to stop him, proving too strong for them, taking the first to Flint Jail and the latter to Fiery Fort.

He appears many times throughout the game, similarly to Betilla, taunting Rayman confidently about the many trials of his design the hero will face. While he only shows up in most worlds to provoke Rayman, he is faced as a boss twice, firstly in the Fiery Fort and lastly in the Dark Stronghold, also appearing as an threat in the latter regularly attacking Rayman with his magic.

Fiery Fort

You are already here?! You just don't give up! I will destroy you!

—Dark Magician, Rayman: The Dark Magician's Reign of Terror

Once Rayman reaches the Fiery Fort, the Dark Magician takes matters into his own hands for the first time in Freeing the Magician, facing Rayman in a chase before stealing the Magician's wand to double his power.

His first boss fight takes place in the penultimate part of Freeing the Magician, uniquely taking the form of a chase where Rayman must follow him without losing a life, with only a Simple Power found along the way. Despite having the usual health bar of twenty points, it isn't possible to damage him and Rayman must insteade evade his attacks for a long enough time.

The Dark Magician attacks with series of spells, throwing three dark projectiles at a time spreading slowly in different directions, such as a corner or a downward horizontal line. At the end of each cycle of dark magic orbs, he either spawns five tall flames on the path, casts a rain of explosive fireballs or creates Magic Minions by launching four eggs. Rayman must survive four complete cycles before they both reach the end of the area, with the exit sign.

As he can't be vanquished during this part, he's the first and one of the few bosses who doesn't leave coins upon Rayman's victory, although five Tings are found instead at the end of the area just before the exit sign. Due to an oversight, fleeing his battle with the Enter key when later returning to his chase results in the player being sent to the title screen instead of skipping the pursuit, which may result in considerable loss of progression if the player didn't save recently.

The Dark Magician then appears in the final part to warn Rayman about their future final battle in his fortress, now wielding the Magician's wand along his own.

Dark Stronghold

He becomes a threat again in the Dark Stronghold appearing regularly in various areas to attack Rayman by surprise similarly to the Reaper, shooting magic projectiles at him before instantly vanishing away.

He's ultimately challenged in Final Showdown, wielding his two wands, and is defeated after taking five hits while unshielded. Once vanquished, he explodes and disappears without a word, with only his red hat surviving and falling slowly to the ground, being able to be picked up by Rayman as a collectible. His personal wand can also be found in Eye of the Storm as the game's final collectible.

In Rayman Redemption

I must admire your dedication, Rayman. You managed to break open all the cages in my devious challenge. Take this skin as a reward for now. Next time we meet I shall not hold back.

—Dark Magician, Rayman Redemption

The Dark Magician briefly appears in the challenge named after him, which he designed himself in the image of Flint Jail, as an homage to Rayman: The Dark Magician's Reign of Terror. He can be found standing next to the Dark Magician Rayman skin if Rayman successfully destroyed the magic wall by breaking all the cages for the first time in Dark Magician's Challenge.

After rewarding Rayman for his efforts, he warns him he won't hold back upon their next meeting before vanishing, hinting at an eventual return or at his actual role in Rayman: The Dark Magician's Reign of Terror as the game's events take place after the original Rayman, which Rayman Redemption has reimagined.

In Rayman ReDesigner

The Dark Magician returns as a decorative character in Rayman ReDesigner with the same appearance he had in Rayman Redemption. He's the last character to have been implemented into the game as he was introduced in version 1.4.0. As such, he does not speak and cannot be interacted with, although he can be assigned to some events like gendoors.

His Magic Minions are also featured in the game, including their flying variants, and so do his magic walls, breakable walls and jail platforms. The tiles from his Flint Jail are available through the Extra template, and the theme of Dark Magician's Challenge can be selected as a level music.

Gallery

• 
  A doodle of Rayman: The Dark Magician's Reign of Terror's bosses by Ryemanni, featuring the Dark Magician in his updated design and with the two magic staves.

Trivia

• The Dark Magician is one of the few Rayman antagonists to have a game named after them, despite not even being a final boss.
• His role as a main antagonist and an evil version of the Magician is very similar to the Teensy Magician from Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends. To further reinforce the similarity, he appears to idolize the Dark Storm, as the evil Magician admires Mr Dark, and they both appear many times to the heroes during the course of their respective games.
• Some of the Dark Magician's dialogues in Rayman: The Dark Magician's Reign of Terror contain mistakes, such as him claiming to have "twice the powe" instead of "twice the power" after stealing the Magician's wand.
• During Rayman Redemption's early production and prior to Dark Magician's Challenge being conceived, the Dark Magician was meant to be a secret boss in Dark Legacy. This was scrapped due to the Final Challenge being already very long and difficult.
• His grey skin in Rayman Redemption and Rayman ReDesigner is an homage to the very first sprite designed for Dark Magician, which originally had a grey color.
• His voice in Rayman Redemption is the same as Mr Dark's, but with a different pitch.
• Ryemanni often depicts the Dark Magician in meme pictures, most notably in the Chad formats.