#ringmaster rigatoni

"Hey, Rayman! Star in my CGI animated circus show! I've heard those are very popular nowadays! I even brought a rabbit!"

In a move that probably surprises no one, I was assigned Ringmaster Rigatoni for the Rayman Villain Collab! This big, purple loser who only appeared in one episode of a four episode series got the least amount of votes and lost to the Rabbids! Everyone point and laugh!

The fact that I was approached to draw this guy means that my transformation into "The Ringmaster Rigatoni Artist" in the Rayman fandom has already taken place even though I've only drawn this guy one other time. I asked for it, really. I'm the only one that wants to actually DO something with this guy rather than relegating him to "only drawing him in group pictures because he's so ugly" status.

Wanted in at least 30 star systems, the cruel ringmaster from beyond the sky, scourge and kidnapper and collector of rare creatures and monsters!

The Great Ringmaster Rigatoni!

A cruel businessman of unknown species and origin (but with a very plausible rumor circulating that his own planet was destroyed by space pirates a couple decades ago), Rigatoni has both taken on many names in his years of general debauchery and dodging the intergalactic feds.

Rigatoni is a simple man. He likes hoarding money and he likes hoarding talent, scooping up any interesting creatures as he travels the stars, trapping them in his circus and forcing them to perform to the unsuspecting masses before moving to the next planet. He likes picking “favorites” but he also treats his favorites no different from the rest of the detritus he enslaves. None of his performers know what happens when they become too worn out/ill/broken to work in the circus, with imaginative minds suspecting either slave trade or dinner.

And now he’s made it to Rayman’s world, a backwater planet that still hasn’t learned space travel and seems ripe for the plucking.

But he’s not interested in the local talent, no. MAGIC is also very valuable...

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I saw several people in the Rayman tag making redesigns of the Rayman villains and, in my mind, all of the Rayman villains are perfect except for the one guy that no one really draws unless they have to. Being in only one episode in a four episode series definitely ruins his street cred a bit.

*Character inspirations: Joe from Help! I’m a Fish, Space Jam, the main bad guy from Oliver and Company, Rock-A-Doodle, Ratigan, and some We’re Back: A Dinosaur’s Story thrown in for good measure.

*Age: Unknown (his species is pretty long-lived)

*True name: Rx’yadxre Laz’t’k Rikk Venisxhi Havyik Yrthtyog (but his current alias is Rigatoni)

*I am literally unsure whether to go with "The dragon form is his actual form that he can change into at will and it’s his big secret" or "he tries to absorb the magic of Rayman's World and it causes him to horrifically mutate and go on a rampage" because both are great story beats. I might split the difference and say “yeah he’s actually a dragon but trying to eat the Lums made him lose his mind for a bit”. *Original idea was that he was wearing fake teeth and fake eyes and then these fall out sorta like that one scene from Who Framed Roger Rabbit before his big boss battle but...nah, I'd rather he just always had the fangs. *His species was enslaved by the robot space pirates under a different leader and his planet was destroyed when it was stripped for resources.

*In a horrific twist of irony, he doesn't actually know this, and has a partnership with the robot space pirates to get more circus performers.

*On that note, the Razorbeard working for him is not the same Razorbeard from Rayman 2. That’s actually Razorbeard’s son, designed to look like him (with some flaws) as a way to foil assassination attempts. But I’ll get to Rayman: TAS’s Razorbeard soon when I redesign him.

*By the way, his planet’s destruction actually shaped a good amount of his mindset and is why he takes a cruel “Survival of the Fittest” approach. His race welcomed those invaders with open arms! They tried to reason with them! And what did they get in return?! 

*Side-note: Don’t pity him, he’s literally killed hundreds.

*He usually eats like Jabba the Hut where he just crunches down on live animals. Usually negotiates contracts during dinner, where his circus performer slowly realizes that Rigatoni’s capable of eating bones like potato chips.