Dark Magician

• 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, Savage Retuns and Deep Paths) (Final Showdown)
Attacks	Dark magic projectiles, fireballs, Magic Minion eggs, flames, dark shield, dark spiky balls, contact
Sex	{{{sex}}}
Species	Unknown
Relatives	{{{relatives}}}

The Dark Magician is the titular antagonist 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.

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 created. 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 putting his trust into the Reaper to whom he ordered to kill Rayman, although he quickly regrets doing the latter after the ghost king's failure.

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. However, he can acknowledge their efforts if they prove persistent and capable enough such as Rayman, and granted him the "honor" of meeting him at his throne for overcoming the Maze of Memories he created for him. In Rayman Redemption, he also respects Rayman's dedication 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.

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 command the likes of Mr Smushy or the Reaper, the first being his pet and the latter taking orders from him. He was also able to establish massive and perilous lairs very quickly while founding 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 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 the second part of Savage Returns and the first section of Deep Paths to attack Rayman by surprise similarly to the Reaper, using only his original wand. When doing so, he quickly shoots a dark magic projectile at Rayman before instantly vanishing away. As he stays still while casting his spell instead of following Rayman's movements like the Reaper, players should also be wary of contact damage.

Is it really worth it? You have come all this way... I have gotten so much stronger! You – cannot – win!

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

After Rayman overcomes his Maze of Memories, the Dark Magician is ultimately challenged at the top of the Dark Stronghold's tower in Final Showdown, wielding his two wands. During his final boss battle, the Dark Magician is protected by a dark shield, and flies around while repetitively shooting four dark projectiles in a line at Rayman. Rayman starts directly with a Big Power, and two Simple Powers can be picked up, both being located at the platform's edges.

Rayman must destroy the shield by punching it very quickly in the air using his fist, as the magic barrier slowly regenerates, although it can't be reformed once broken until the Dark Magician himself is damaged. While his health bar displays twenty health points like the other bosses, the Dark Magician can only withstand five hits while unshielded as a punch from Rayman damages four points from the bar. After taking a hit, the Dark Magician stays above out of Rayman's range and starts a new cycle of attacks by summoning moving columns of dark spiky balls fifteen times which swipe over the arena, which Rayman must either crawl under or jump over depending on the obstacles' position.

In the second phase, the Dark Magician reforms his shield and launches eggs birthing Magic Minions, until getting damaged again. During his following cycle of dark spiky balls, the Dark Magician generates them in horizontal rows instead, with either four spiky balls with a hole between them or just one aimed at Rayman's position. The shield reforms again during the third phase, and Dark Magician now launches five explosive fireballs. Once hit a third time, he replaces the dark spiky balls attacks with five continous series of many dark magic projectiles, forcing Rayman to move towards one side of the area or the other, preferably doing so neither too slow or too fast to not get overwhelmed or stuck in a corner where he won't be able to dodge.

During the fourth shielded phase, the Dark Magician teleports above Rayman instead of flying around to shoot down three columns of dark magic projectiles in a square. Once the evil sorcerer is damaged, Rayman must avoid the Dark Magician's ultimate cycle of attacks, similar to his previous offensive phase, excepts he shoots down dozens of dark projectiles in a very fast stream, doing so six times, making it imperative to run and use the brief moments of respite to avoid getting trapped at an edge of the arena. In the final shielded phase, the Dark Magician repeats his previous method of shooting dark magic in squares, but this time two dark spiky balls continuously appear from one side of the arena and then the other, which Rayman must dodge by either jumping or crawling while being wary of the Dark Magician's attacks at the same time.

Once defeated by being hit a fifth time, 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. Should the player challenge the Dark Magician boss again, fleeing his battle with the Enter key will once again send them to the title screen instead of skipping the showdown, due to an oversight.

His personal wand can also be found later in Eye of the Storm as the game's final collectible, making him the only character in Rayman: The Dark Magician's Reign of Terror to have collectibles tied to them.

• 
  The Dark Magician hat collectible.
• 
  The Dark Magician wand 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. His hat serves as the challenge's preview icon, and the Dark Magician himself 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 was reimagined in Rayman Redemption.

In Rayman ReDesigner

The Dark Magician returns as a decorative character in Rayman ReDesigner with the same appearance he had in Rayman Redemption, found in the third page of the editor's decoration tab. 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 flipped or 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 Grim Chains theme of Dark Magician's Challenge can be selected as a level music, including from the music starter object since version 1.4.0.

Gallery

• 
  The Dark Magician attempting to destroy Rayman in the Fiery Fort.
• 
  The Dark Magician fought in the Final Showdown.
• 
  The Dark Magician trapping Rayman between dark spiky balls.
• 
  Dark Magician's hat, the final remains of the evil sorcerer after his defeat.
• 
  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.
• The Big Power at Rayman's spawning position during the final Dark Magician confrontation makes the Big Power found in the first part of Final Showdown redundant, as there's no other threat in the level besides the boss.
• Some attack phases like the dark spiky balls in the Final Showdown are similar to Darker Mr Dark's red attack phase in Rayman Redemption, being possibly the inspiration for it. The Final Showdown world in Rayman Redemption may also be a nod to Dark Magician's final level of the same name.
• 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. Unused giant dark purple spiky balls can be found in the game's internal files, similar to the dark spiky balls used by Dark Magician during Final Showdown, being possibly originally intended for that secret fight.
• Despite not appearing in the Gameplay Demo of Rayman Redemption, his hat could already be found in the preview icon of Dark Magician's Challenge featured in the internal files.
• 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 depicted the Dark Magician in meme pictures, most notably in the Chad formats.