Mr. Dark (Rayman)

"You enter the world of desserts where Mister Dark is hidden, guarded by clowns carrying out amazing stunts... Be careful, Mister Dark is diabolical."

- Manual, Rayman

Mr. Dark is a major villain in the Rayman video game series. He is the primary antagonist of the original Rayman, where he steals the Great Protoon, scatters the Electoons across the world, and kidnaps Betilla the Fairy. This leads Rayman to track him down and fight him, rescuing the trapped Electoons along the way.

Rayman 1
Mr. Dark is the main antagonist in this game and is the one who imprisons several of the Electoons, steals the Great Protoon and defeats Betilla the Fairy when she tries to stop him from taking it. This causes all of the Electoons that gravitated around it to lose their natural stability and scatter across the world, as well. As a result, strange creatures came to Rayman's world and started capturing all of the Electoons they could find. Rayman has to venture through five worlds, freeing Electoons and defeating Mr. Dark's minions, before he can fight Mr. Dark in his secret lair: Candy Chateau. Once confronted, Mr. Dark easily corners Rayman by disabling his fists and attacking him with fire magic. However, a group of electoons come to Rayman's aid with a new fist powerup. This causes Mr. Dark to flee, but not before unleashing his remaining minions, all of which are past bosses that were morphed together by Mr. Dark. After Rayman defeats the bosses, there is no sign of Mr. Dark. However, he leaves the Great Protoon behind. He has yet to resurface.

Rayman Brain Games
In Rayman Brain Games (PS1), Mr. Dark returned to steal the Book of Knowledge. Betilla the Fairy and The Magician turned to Rayman to find it. Rayman has to go through 6 different gates to find it. Along the way he will learn how to do reading, writing phonics, etc. Mr. Dark also appears in Candy Chateau in Rayman Gold, Designer, and By His Fans. Mr. Dark was never to be either seen or heard from again up to now.

Rayman 1 (GBC)
There is no mention of him stealing the Great Protoon, instead capturing all the Electoons and taking their energy for himself to use. Rayman had to venture through 7 lands before he can defeat the evil Mr. Dark and free the Electoons. Mr. Dark used fire, lightning and dark orbs to attack Rayman this time, but he was defeated after a short battle. When Rayman defeats him, his spirit releases from his cloak, withers away and seems to explode. The electoons use his remaining cloak to play a prank on Rayman afterwards.

Rayman Advance (GBA)
As a direct port of Rayman 1, he appears again as the main antagonist.

Rayman Origins
Though Mr. Dark did not appear, his influence was felt throughout the game. It was thought he was the main antagonist and the mastermind behind the Moody Clouds. In the majority of the adventure, the Magician tricks Rayman and his buddies into giving him lums to power his machines. At The Reveal, the Magician showed his true allignment as a follower who tried to usurp Mr. Dark's position, having renounced the "good" star on his hat and attempting to dispose of the heroes with two robotic bosses. Rayman and his buddies defeated both of them and pursue the Magician, who uses disco to distract the heroes as he makes a get away in his blimp. The heroes fight the blimp only making it fall into the core of the fortress, causing it to explode and seemingly destroying him. While it was initially thought that the Magician and Mr. Dark were meant to be the same character in this appearance, the writer of the game has clarified that the Magician is not Mr. Dark. Outside of that occurence, the only time Mr. Dark is mentioned is if Bad Rayman speaks to the Bubble Dreamer.

Trivia

 * He is the second most appearing main antagonist appearing four times (Rayman, Rayman Brain Games, Rayman 1 / Gold) He is refered to in Rayman Orgins, when the Magican claimed he was Mr. Dark in disguise.
 * It can be assumed that the three boss combination monsters you fight at the end of Rayman 1 are Mr. Dark shapeshifting into the creatures, as his portrait is used for the boss health meter.