Hey fellas, this is my Pure Evil Proposal for Admiral Razorbeard from Rayman 2, who I'm quite shocked doesn't even have the category yet.
What's The Work[]
Rayman 2 is the second entry of the popular Rayman franchise, released in 1999 and subsequently remade on just about every console imaginable.
Who is He, and What has he Done?[]
| “ | Rayman, look what the pirates have done to our world...A planet of anguish and pain, haunted by evil. A dark place, teeming with fierce monsters. Nothing can stop them now that they've captured you. They've taken everything and reduced our people to slaves. The robots search for innocent prey. | „ |
| ~ Ly's opening monologue on Razorbeard. |
Razorbeard is the main antagonist of the game. He's a space pirate and conqueror who seriously means business. Though obviously off-screen, the manual preambles the guy by stating that he reduced hundreds of planets to dust.
The first we see of him, he's already managed to enslave the better part of Rayman's world, including children, and in the opening cutscene we are treated to the lovely image of Rayman being lugged down a hallway of Razorbeard's flying ship and base of operations, the Buccaneer, whilst prisoners, old and young, feebly stick out their arms twixt the cages' bars and beg for help, release, or anything.
Furthermore, Razorbeard has caged up the Lums (living forms of energy that make up Rayman's world) and dispersed them thinly across the land, except for one, which he eats alive. Over the course of the game, Razorbeard is seen commanding his right-hand man to kill Rayman, who naturally had escaped very early on in the game, and bring the admiral his body (which is rather grim). However, in the end when his goon has disappointed him one time too many, he simply kills him by dropping him into lava. (A staple of any good PE boss).
One mission of the game is having to save Globox's babies, whom Razorbeard had his pirates force into a prison facility and a selection of dark mines (both for child labor; this is stated in-game). Another is when Razorbeard brainwashes Clark (one of Rayman's close friends) into trying to kill Rayman. Overall, the entire game makes a point to display the dystopian effect Razorbeard's having on the world.
By the end of the game, Rayman returns to the ship (which now holds over 45,000 slaves), backed up by Ly and the god Polokus, who manages to take out Razorbeard's standing army on land. Razorbeard hops in a terrible machine named Grolgoth which he has just recently attained (worth noting is the fact that whilst purchasing this machine, he had an on-screen fantasy about waving Rayman's lifeless body above a fire -- not all that cartoony) and attempts to kill Globox, Rayman's best friend, right in front of him. After seemingly murdering Globox as Rayman looks on, Razorbeard sadistically cackles, "Now you're alone for all eternity!"
After Rayman beats Razorbeard, the admiral shows no remorse or acceptance of defeat, but flies away and sets his ship to self-destruct, all the while, to his knowledge, the slaves (as well as his own crew) are all still aboard. In this wise, he almost kills Rayman.
Moral Event Horizon[]
It's honestly difficult to pinpoint a certain point where he crosses it. Anyone who blows up hundreds of planets and enslaves tens of thousands of creatures is well beyond it. But the fact that he in the end, when defeated by Rayman, simply chooses to blow his entire ship up, his life's work and everyone aboard, just to kill his opponent, shows that there is not a shred of mercy or repentance in him.
Freudian Excuse/Mitigating Factors[]
None. He has full moral agency, he chooses to be a world-destroying slaver. His appearance and tantrums are where his comedy ends, he is by no means a comic relief villain, as he is treated as a definite threat by the worlds' hopeless inhabitants. For clarification, the "funniest" he gets in the game is when he loses balance on his chair due to bad news received by his right-hand, but that very same right-hand he ruthlessly melts alive later, and when it gets to the final battle of the game, Razorbeard sheds any comedic qualities he might've had, almost killing Globox in front of Rayman and taunting that he'll be "alone for eternity" as stated earlier, and setting the entire ship to self-destruct after losing.
Some may remember him more comedic than he really is, but him being wholly silly and animated occurs only in non-canon spin-offs: Razorbeard appears in Rayman M/Arena/Rush as a neutral competitor, however those games are party games and are not canon. Razorbeard also plays a goofy henchman in Rayman: The Animated Series, but that narrative is so detached it's considered a different universe/version of the character.
It is imperative to note that all media depicting Razorbeard as incompetent is not part of the main game canon, which is the version of Razorbeard this proposal is on.
Heinous Standard[]
All Rayman villains before/after Razorbeard simply seek world domination with cartoony vagueness. They put a few good guys in cages and plant a few henchmen, and corrupt some heretofore good form of magic.
Meanwhile, Razorbeard explictly enslaves innocent populations, destroys worlds and shows no regard for any living creature, not even his own henchmen. He just shatters the Heinous Standard, and is a large reason why Rayman 2 is the darkest game in the series. Accessible lore in-game states outright that if Razorbeard is not defeated, the world will "forever bathe in pain and suffering".
No Sympathy[]
No sympathy whatsoever. In the written prologue to the game, Rayman cries out that he wants to make Razorbeard wish he was never born. That much hatred goes to show how terrible the guy really is. Who else has ever been discussed in such a manner in Rayman?
Final Verdict[]
I believe he fills the PE bill to a tee.