Rabbid

General CVG character
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name=Rabbid


caption=

The Rabbids playing with a Wii, seen in a screenshot for the launch trailer for "Rayman Raving Rabbids
series= "Rayman" series
firstgame="Rayman Raving Rabbids"
creator=Michel Ancel
artist=
voiceactor=Marcel Popo
japanactor=
motionactor=
inuniverse=

Rabbids are a fictional species of maniacal anthropomorphic rabbits, that serve as the primary antagonists in the video games "Rayman Raving Rabbids", "Rayman Raving Rabbids 2" and "Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party". Their most well known traits feature various slapstick comedy elements; running around wielding various household objects, dressing up as various other fictional characters, and most of all, constant screaming. Although essentially the "villain" in the game, they have gained a considerable popularity and fanbase through viral videos and media appearances. Many people even suspect them to overshadow Rayman, despite hints that there could be a "Rayman 4".cite web |author=Matt Casamassina |date=2006-10-13 |title="Rayman Raving Rabbids": Impressions and Video |url=http://wii.ign.com/articles/739/739035p1.html |accessdate=2007-11-12 |quote=The bunnies in the game are so well-designed, animated, and voiced, that they have actually upstaged Rayman himself to become the spotlight of Ubisoft's marketing efforts for the title.] cite web |author=Alex Navarro |date=2006-11-19 |title="Rayman Raving Rabbids Review" on GameSpot |url=http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/rayman4/review.html |accessdate=2007-11-12 |quote=It might have Rayman in the title, but the real stars of the show are the adorably bizarre raving rabbids.] They even went to "create" their own band, The Raving Rabbids.

Conception and creation

The earliest "Rayman 4" trailers depicted the bunnies as rather menacing and zombie-like, simply appearing from underground with a blank stare in various shapes and forms, smaller eyes and furry. At this point, trailers showed the game as an adventure game with fight stages, where Rayman would need to punch himself through a horde of zombie-bunnies. As the game concept evolved (from one of a central objective to minigames) and viral videos were created, however, the Rabbid figures became much more conscious and amusing, changing from clichéd computer game cannon fodder into a series of memorable characters with various traits and quirks, akin to "Worms". "Rayman" creator Michel Ancel described the bunnies as "vicious, but at the same time [...] totally stupid".cite web |author=Matt Casamassina |title="Rayman Raving Rabbids" Interview |url=http://wii.ign.com/articles/709/709614p2.html |accessdate=2007-11-12 |quote=The Rabbits are hundreds and they are vicious, but at the same time they are totally stupid.]

Characteristics

The rabbids appear as anthropomorphic, stout rabbits with big round eyes and a large mouth. They stand around 2 feet tall, [Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, police lineup minigame] with their ears adding an additional foot to their height. They have two large incisors, but no other teeth visible, except in the "Bunnies Don't Use Toothpaste" minigame, where they feature a full set of (grossly unhygienic) teeth.

Rabbids tend to be somewhat mentally unstable, and often experience strange adrenaline rushes, where their eyes turn red and they emit a loud yell of DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! (often spelt BWAHHH! in various media and graffiti). This is also often a precursor of the bunny smashing something or attacking someone with its tool of choice.

Rabbids have an interesting choice in weaponry; trailer videos show that bunnies have a high preference of carrying around various household items as melee weapons. Choices include feather dusters, plungers, ladles, toilet brushes, toy shovels, tennis rackets, sausages and other objects. The toilet plunger, the central weapon of the game, is a main example of the bunnies' sense of toilet humor. Some Rabbids carry oversized spiked clubs.

Rabbids have a penchant for dressing up. These outfits include, but are not limited to, French maid outfits, snorkels with duck-shaped swim rings or swim trunks with assorted huge swimfins and swimming goggles, ninja suits, pirate outfits, cowboy hats with bandanas, Superman costumes, gladiator outfits made out of pans and other kitchen utensils, Sam Fisher-style night-vision goggles, and "Metal Gear"'s cardboard boxes.

A Rabbid seems to blink once or twice at an object before taking in what it is. It is also seen that Rabbids have a habit of closing and opening their left or right fist. They love to dance, as seen in the bonus videos in "Rayman Raving Rabbids." Some of their more bizarre exploits are seen to be falling in love with a metal detector, swallowing a whole tube full of wasabi and various inorganic objects such as an Xbox 360 controller and a Wii Balance Board.

ubspecies

Rabbids aren't all identical, as there are a couple of specimens which have different characteristics than others. While most of them usually just differ in their clothing, there are some which differ in shape and size as well. The most unusual bunny of them all is the Sergueï, a giant, metal muzzle-wearing rabbit with red glowing eyes. It appears to be the leader (or at least main henchman) of the bunnies and it is the one responsible for throwing Rayman in jail, appearing as a guard of some sort. Another different bunny called Pink, a robotic bunny, has large, long ears and big glowing eyes. He is seen in the "Bunny Hunt" mini games with some sort of vehicle having four legs, and is the final enemy fought in the first game. The Rabbids also seem to have a larger breed, which have a considerably lower voice and appear in a darker, gray color. They mostly appear in the on-rail segments, and require multiple plungers to subdue.

Common Rabbids

The "normal" Rabbids appear in a variety of getups. These are listed below:

* Afro Bunny: A yellow or green Rabbid wearing a white afro. Appears in some Bunny Hunt mini games, and in "Bunnies Have Natural Rhythm."

*American Football Rabbid: A special costumed Rabbid that can only be seen in "Rayman Raving Rabbids 2" as an unlockable costume.

* Bunny Maid ("Cleanous Maidus"), alias French Maid: A Rabbid wearing a small skirt and wielding a feather duster. Appears in a lot of mini games.

* Bunny Student: A Rabbid with black hair on his head, wearing a school uniform of sorts. A few also have glasses. They appear only in "Bunnies Have a Great Ear for Music", where they, in a large group, sing Ode to Joy (but was known in the "Rayman Raving Rabbids" jukebox as Ubisoft Montpellier Choir) together. He appears to be dressed like Elvis Presley or Fonzie from "Happy Days".

* Chef Bunny ("Lapinus Kitchenus"): A Rabbid wearing a chef's hat, which reads "Le Chef" (The Chef). Appears in the two "Bunnies Like to Stuff Themselves" mini games. Despite being a chef, he doesn't actually seem to prepare food - all he does is eat it.

* Clark Superbunny: A Rabbid wearing a superman costume. Does not seem to be an antagonist in the game, but appears in "Bunnies Can't Fly", "Bunnies Are Not Ostriches", and most Bunny Hunts.

* Cowboy Bunny: A Rabbid wearing a cowboy hat; sometimes they also wear a handkerchief. These appear in all of the Western-themed Bunny Hunt mini games. There are also a few blue Rabbids in "Bunnies Have Natural Rhythm" that wear a cowboy hat. Their radio plays Country and Western music. Also, at the end of one Bunny Hunt stage, they have the same look as the rabbids in "Bunnies Have Natural Rhythm" except that they are yellow.

* Crabtree Bunny: A Rabbid wearing a police officer's costume and moustache, which looks almost exactly the same as that of Officer Crabtree from the UK TV series 'Allo 'Allo! He appears in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2.

* Dancing Bunny: A bizarre Rabbid that floats out of a pile of coal during one of the shooting games in Rayman Raving Rabbids. Another one, doing a different dance (which seems to resemble him riding an invisible horse) can be seen in the distance earlier in the same minigame.

* Fireman Rabbid: A Rabbid wearing a black fireman outfit. Appears as a Right Rabbid in one of the FPS minigames in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2.

* Flying Rabbid: A normal Rabbid flying a small saucer with rabbit ears. Appears in Bunny Hunt stages. (Saucer also seen in mini game "bunnies are not ostriches" in raving rabbids 1.)

* France World Cup Rabbid: Rabbids dressed in a green afro and World Cup France's jersey. Appears in a French commercial celebrating France's win over Brazil in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

* Fruit Hat Rabbid: A Rabbid who has a purple dress and a purple hat filled with fruit. Appears as the Right Rabbid in one of the FPS minigames in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2.

* Gift Bunny: A Rabbid who runs around in a frenzied pattern while carrying an explosive package. Don't let him reach you or he'll blow up in your face! Appears in all Bunny Hunt mini games.

* Gladiator Bunny ("Lapinus Gladiatus"), AKA Peter: A Rabbid wearing various metal kitchen utensils on his body to protect him from weapons. He attacks with a ladle. Moves slow, but can take many hits before he is taken down. Appears in later Bunny Hunt mini games, usually in groups of two. This Rabbid only appears in the first Rayman Raving Rabbids.

* Indi-Bunny ("Indigenous Comanchenous"), alias Chief: A Rabbid wearing feathers on his head and a feather skirt. This Rabbid appears exclusively in the first Rayman Raving Rabbids. Appears in Western-themed Bunny Hunt mini games, and in "Bunnies Can Only Fly Downwards," where Rayman skydives to their small settlement.

* Mexican Bunny: A sombrero-wearing Rabbid that sleeps as much as he can. Appears in "Bunnies Think They're in a Movie" and "Bunnies Don't Sleep Well". He also appears in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, where he is much more active, has a sarape added to his attire, and is an unlockable costume.

* Mime Bunny: A Rabbid wearing the traditional white face-paint, black overalls, and red a white-striped shirt of a mime. In Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, they appear in the FPS minigames, where they will attack you with one of three weapons: a plunger gun, a French pastry, or an exploding present. He also appears as an unlockable costume.

* Miner Bunny: A Rabbid wearing a mining helmet with a metal spike on the top. Tunnels underneath the ground and then pops up somewhere else. Appears in several Bunny Hunt mini games. He also appears in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 as an unlockable costume.

* Ninja Bunny ("Bert the masked Rabbid") alias "NiiiiiiiiinjA": A Rabbid on a pogo stick that bounces around a lot before it jumps over to you to smack you. Appears in later Bunny Hunt mini games, and usually in multiple waves of two or more. Seems to yell "Banzai!" while in the middle of a jump. A different kind of Ninja Bunny appears in the sequel, where it is one of the unlockable costumes.

* Pirate Bunny A bunny dressed in typical pirate gear. Appears in "Bunnies don't like being disturbed at night" only.
* Private Bunn-eye: A Rabbid police officer. Does not appear to be in the game, but he appears on the official site.

* Pumpkin Rabbid: A Rabbid with a pumpkin on its head and wielding a cucumber in an attempt to be scary. Appears in the "Bunny's Can't Scare Humans" Halloween commercial.

* Rainbow Six Bunnies: Dressed in the gear the soldiers wear in "". The only thing different about the Rabbids portraying the real characters is that they get all tied up from their harnesses while descending from the sky. Appears on rabbids.com.

* Raybid: A Rabbid wearing Rayman's signature shoes and hoodie. Seen in an MTV preview for Rayman Raving Rabbids. they shown in concept art. as seen in credits.
* Rock Bunny: A Rabbid wearing shades. Appears in most Bunny Hunt mini games, usually near a music source. Activating the music will make them dance uncontrollably. They also appear in "Bunnies Have Natural Rhythm."

* Saturday Night Fever Bunny: A Rabbid with a blue shirt and a black jacket and shorts that likes to dance. One would think he appears in the dancing mini games, however, he doesn't appear in the game at all except in the credits.

* Scuba Bunny ("Amphibious Carnivorous"), alias "The Frog": A Rabbid wearing flippers, a snorkel mask, and occasionally, a ducky ring. They nearly always appear around a water source (One time, they even appear at a fountain). They own a very large yellow submarine that can shoot heat-seeking missiles.

* The Space Rabbids: The Space Rabbids, obvious parodies of the Super Sentai, come in four different colors: red, blue, green, and yellow. They appear in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, where they are bosses in an FPS level. They each take one hit to defeat. They also appear as costumes, You have the blue one from the start. It's the red, green, and yellow Space Rabbids whose costumes you have to unlock.

* Teenage Mutant Ninja Rabbid: A costume that is an obvious parody of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.They are usually seen in bunny shoting games in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2.

* Tropical Bunny: A Rabbid that wears a coconut bikini and a flower on his head. Appears in Bunny Hunt stages that take place on the beach. They also appear in "Bunnies Have Natural Rhythm", where their color is pink. They also appear in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, except with a hula skirt added.

* Rabbid Rayman: Rayman dressed in a rabbid outfit. Can be found in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 as a costume.

pecial Rabbids

There are several Rabbids that have special traits.

* Assassin Bunny: A Rabbid dressed like the assassin, Altaïr, from the Ubisoft's "Assassin's Creed", this bunny's clothes are usable in "Rayman Raving Rabbids 2". His image is also on rabbids.com.

* Bunny Messiah: A Rabbid parodying the "Might and Magic" series. Appears on rabbids.com.

* Bunniez: A Rabbid wearing cat ears and tail parodying the "Petz" series of games. Appears on rabbids.com.

* Bunny Fisher: A Rabbid wearing night vision goggles. He always drops down from a Rabbid UFO with a rope, and can dodge some of your shots. He is a parody of Sam Fisher, the main character in Tom Clancy's "Splinter Cell", also published by Ubisoft. He appears in nearly all Bunny Hunt mini games. The official Rayman Raving Rabbids site says he is as discreet as a bull in a China shop. His costume appears in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2. He can be seen on rabbids.com in an image parodying the cover image for "".

* Clark Superbunny ("Lapinus Krytonius"), AKA Clark (Alias "Super"): A Rabbid with black hair, wearing a Superman outfit. He isn't a real super hero, but he tries to be. He can fly short distances using posterior explosives hidden under his cape, but he doesn't seem to have much control over his flight path (for obvious reasons). Appears in a lot of mini games; "Bunnies Are Not Ostriches" is a minigame in which the player has to pull out 10 Super Bunnies who have gotten their heads stuck into the desert ground within a given amount of time. The name "Clark" is an obvious nod to Clark Kent. He also appears as an unlockable costume in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2.

* Crash Test Bunny: A Rabbid with the appearance of a Crash Test Dummy (or more specifically The Incredible Crash Dummies) . This Rabbid appears exclusively in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, where he operates a jackhammer in an FPS level and is an unlockable costume.

* Cyclops Bunny: A Rabbid with the visor of Scott Summers and one of the members of the X-Rabbids seen on rabbids.com.

* Darth Bunny (name unknown): A Rabbid that is based on Darth Vader from the "Star Wars" film series; it appears in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2. [ [http://wii.ign.com/articles/791/791069p1.html IGN: Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 Hands-On] ]

* Gingerbread Bunny: A Rabbid who is an obvious parody of the Gingerbread Man from the Shrek movies. He appears in the Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 FPS level "Paris, Pour Toujours", where he attacks with a toothbrush. He also appears as an unlockable costume.

* Godfather Bunny: A fat, slightly bigger than normal Rabbid mostly seen wearing a bowler hat and a suit. He appears to be based on Vito Corleone, but looks more like Oddjob. He plays many roles in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, replacing Sergueï as the main recurring Rabbid. He has been shown as a guest in a restaurant, as the boss of an office, as a teacher who constantly has to deal with bad students, and as a tourist who likes to eat ice cream, even in extremely cold weather. His "Godfather" outfit appears as an unlockable costume.

* Far Cry Bunny: A Rabbid that appears in a trailer to "Far Cry Vengeance". This Rabbid has green eyes, which are uncommon among Rabbids. He lives on an island and wears a red T-shirt and brown shorts and has shaggy brown hair. He also appears on rabbids.com, but parodying the earlier "Far Cry" title, "Far Cry Instincts" (parodied as "Bunnies Instincts").

* Giant Bunny: A big, black, grey or blue angry-looking bunny who appears in most Bunny Hunt mini games, usually seen throwing explosive objects. He takes several shots to take down. He also appears in "Bunnies Can't Play Soccer" "Bunnies don't Shear Sheep" and "Bunnies Don't Like Bats Part 2."

* Ghost Recon Bunny: In the Official Xbox magazine for April 2007 there is a picture of a Rabbid wearing the high tech armor and helmet that the main characters wear. Even more the Rabbid is holding an Advanced Hi-tech plunger labeled "PL - Grunger 45 - With high impact suction". This Rabbid appears in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 as an enemy in the FPS minigames. He also appears on rabbids.com.

* Haze Bunny: A Rabbid dressed like Shane Carpenter from the video game "Haze". He appears as a Right Rabbid in one of the FPS minigames in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2.

* Ice Bunny: A Rabbid with the abilities of Iceman and one of the X-Rabbids on rabbids.com.

* Jack Sparrow Bunny: A bunny with the headgear the same as Jack Sparrow from "Pirates of the Caribbean". He can be seen on rabbids.com being fired out of a cannon.

* Jason Bunny: A Rabbid that has the classic mask of Jason Voorhees. He also has Jason's clothing above the waist. This Rabbid appears exclusively in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2.

* Ken Bunny: A Rabbid wearing a yellow wig and red karate gi, very similar to Ken Masters from the "Street Fighter" series of games. He appears in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 as an unlockable costume.

* Mario Bunny: A Rabbid wearing the same clothes as Mario from Super Mario, except with the letter B on his hat instead of M. He only appears in promotional art from within an issue of Nintendo Power, where he is seen reading a magazine called "Nintendo Plunger", an obvious parody of Nintendo Power.

* Napoleon Bunny: A Rabbid in the garb of Napoleon Crossing the Alps. Appears in a promotional image for Rayman Raving Rabbids 2.

* Nightrabbid: A Rabbid with the same coloration as Nightcrawler. Seen in the X-Rabbids on rabbids.com.

* Professor Barranco Clone 3: A Odd-Eyed Rabbid with one red eye and one blue eye who is really the third clone of Professor Barranco who is appeared to be nonharmed. The other Rabbids seem to respect him with authority. He appears in the opening movie of Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, attempting to identify Rayman with the European Wii gamebox of the first game (until Rayman screams "DAAAH!").

* Pink ("Robotus Pinkus"), AKA T4III7773344303XXX: A robotic rabbit with large ears. It is protected by a forcefield at all times, so explosives must be used to defeat it. It is found only in a few Bunny Hunt mini games. It also dances with the other Rabbids during the credits sequence. This Rabbid appears exclusively in the first Rayman Ravng Rabbids.

* Professor Barranco: A Rabbid who has the top portion of his head wrapped in gauze. He is, according to the manual, the smartest Rabbid, but he never gets in your way, except in "Bunnies Are Not Ostriches." He does not seem to be liked much by the other Rabbids, as Sergueï steps on him and other Rabbids frequently hit him with blunt objects. He seems to be conducting tests on pain and the effects of various weapons. He also appears in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 as an unlockable costume.

* Professor Rabbid: A Rabbid in a wheelchair and a parody of Professor X in the X-Rabbids on rabbids.com.

* Pyrabbid: A Rabbid with the abilities of Pyro and one of the X-Rabbids on rabbids.com.

* Rabbidsformer: A bunny shown transforming from a toilet. Shown in a trailer that's an obvious parody of the "Transformers" trailer. Another one, more complicated skin-wise, less complicated technology-wise, appears as an unlockable costume in-game.

* Rabble Droid: The commander of the rabbid army, and the final boss of the DS version of "Rayman Raving Rabbids". He resembles a humongous mutant rabbid with a robotic head and a little spaceship in his bottom part. Regular rabbids are driving this spaceship.

* Rabbneto: A Rabbid with the helmet and abilities of Magneto and one of the X-Rabbids on rabbids.com.

* Rabuto: From promotional videos for Raving Rabbids 2, the character is based on Naruto from the anime series of the same name. This costume is now only available on the Japanese version due to copyright issues.

* Robot Bunny ("Robotus Lapinus"), alias T1000 and ¾: A black, robotic Rabbid with red eyes. Appears in "Bunnies Aren't Scared of the Dark" only. The T1000 could be a parody of the T-1000 robot from the film "".

* Rolling Bunny: A Rabbid inside a glass ball, that comes rolling down corridors. The ball always breaks before it gets to you, however. Appears only in "Bunnies Aren't Scared of the Dark."

* Sailor Bunny A rabbid dressed like Sailor Moon. Unlockable costume in "Rayman Raving Rabbids 2".

* Scott Monroe Bunny: A Rabbid with the suit, shades, and tattoos of Scott Monroe, one of the main characters in Ubisoft's Wii-released "Red Steel" (but called Bunny Steel in rabbids.com). He holds a plunger gun on the left hand, a long-armed frying spatular on the other, parodying the game's two-weaponed gameplay.

* Spider-Rabbid: A rabbid that wears a Spider-Man outfit, is a playable character in Raving Rabbids 2. He also has his own mini-game.

* "SPARTAN" Bunny: A Rabbid shown in promotion art for "Rayman Raving Rabbids 2". It is dressed as Master Chief from the "Halo" series.

* Sergueï ("Grandus Lapinus"): A much bigger Rabbid than usual, this rabbit is menacing, especially when you take into the account that it has glowing red eyes, a metallic muzzle, and much darker hairs. It is the one responsible for throwing Rayman in prison. Although it is the main recurring Rabbid in Rayman Raving Rabbids, it only makes a minor cameo in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, where it is seen climbing the Eiffel Tower on the game's cover. It is also in the role of Beast of the X-Rabbids on rabbids.com.

* The Chef From Outer Space: A bigger than usual Rabbid (though only by about 3 inches) appears as the boss of two FPS levels in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2. His weak point is his back for reasons unknown, though it could be because he has a weak spine. Like several other Rabbids in this game, the Chef From Outer Space has several smaller versions of him, all seen chasing a human chef. Interestingly, the game lists him as "The Chief From Outer Space". In the end, he is killed by a falling Green UFO.

* The Rabbinator: A much larger Rabbid wearing a leather jacket and shades appears as the boss of the first FPS section of Raving Rabbids 2, as a nod to "The Terminator". A much smaller rabbid is controlling the Rabbinator from inside his chest, which is also his weak point. As it is damaged, various parts of his fur fall off, revealing his cybernetic body. Unlike in The Terminator movies, The Rabbinator appears fully clothed. Another reference to "The Terminator" in this Rabbid is that its hobby is time travel. In the end, he is killed by the plungers you shoot at him.

* The Raving Rabbids: A band of Rabbids that cut the hit single "Making Fun (Of Everyday Life)" that appears in "Rayman Raving Rabbids 2" and on rabbids.com. It is believed that they are also the same Rabbids that sing all the songs in the games, and if that is the case, they borrow a cue from Gnarls Barkley by appearing in different outfits for each performance.

* The Village Rabbids: A quintet of Rabbids dressed like a motorcycle cop, an Indian, a construction worker, a cowboy, and one in a biker hat. They are seen parking a flying submarine outside the White House, and are an obvious parody of the Village People.

* Toad Rabbid: A Rabbid with the goggles and tongue of Toad seen in the X-Rabbids on rabbids.com.

* Wolverabbid: A Rabbid with Wolverine like claws and hair. Seen in the X-Rabbids on rabbids.com

History

Not much is known from the fictional history of the rabbids; the Game Boy Advance version of the game states that the Rabbids used to be cute, friendly creatures, but they trusted nearly everybody, which made them the target of many jokes. After taking this for a long time, they went mad and are now trying to get their revenge on everybody who tricked them.

In their first game appearance, the Rabbids kidnap Rayman and the baby Globoxes, and imprison them in their Colosseum, in which Rayman must endure a number of minigames to gain the praise of the Rabbids. The Rabbids reward Rayman's efforts with plungers and an increasingly more comfortable jail cell. It is unknown how they react to Rayman's escape at the end of the game.

In the sequel to "Rayman Raving Rabbids", the Rabbids attempt to invade Earth and set up their headquarters near a local shopping mall.

Reception

The bunnies became massively popular both through the teaser trailers and the game itself. IGN has stated that the Rabbids have "more personality and charisma than 10 of the most popular video game mascots combined",cite web |author=Matt Casamassina |date=2006-11-16 |title="Rayman Raving Rabbids" Review |url=http://wii.ign.com/articles/746/746378p1.html |accessdate=2007-11-12 |quote=Although we could honestly take or leave Rayman himself, Ubisoft has with the bunnies created characters with more personality and charisma than 10 of the most popular videogame mascots combined.] and that the bunnies have literally "upstaged Rayman himself". GameSpot has noted, "The Rabbids themselves are almost exclusively responsible for [selling the game's humor] , as they are, without a doubt, hysterical. They're adorably designed, with their dumb stares, high-pitched shrieks, and a penchant for taking comedic bumps."

There has been speculation by reviewers that the success of the Rabbid character will probably inspire the developers to create more games of the franchise, possibly even without Rayman. This was first hinted in the launch trailer of the first game, where Rayman, despite being the title character, only appears for a fraction of a second, only to be squashed flat by a couch taken over by the bunnies, and became evident in "Rayman Raving Rabbids 2," in which case Rayman disguises himself as a Rabbid, causing the game to put more emphasis on them than on Rayman himself. In a recent video review, project lead Loïc Gounon confirmed the possibility of splitting the Rayman and Rabbid series apart, mentioning that the Rabbids seem to appeal more to older gamers, due to its slapstick humor and minigames deviating from the Rayman series' more fantasy-oriented style and action adventure gameplay. [cite web |date=2007-06-26 |title="Rayman Raving Rabbids 2" interview |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBZNdU5wM5A |accessdate=2007-11-13]

Teasers

Rabbids earned their own share of the spotlight through the teaser trailers of the game, including a series of videos entitled "Bunnies - Very Useful Scientific Facts", which showcases the bunnies' unorthodox approaches to such complex problems as milking cows, playing soccer and even infiltrating Games Convention in a "Metal Gear Solid" style; each video is presented as a camcorder documentary recording a Rabbid being puzzled with some kind of everyday activity, suddenly wielding various objects and punctuated by their trademark yell. The trailers, however, are also quick to point out that regardless of their antics, bunnies "can dance" - a reference to the various rhythm mini-games (One trailer," Bunnies can't phone " however, replaces "dance" with "fly," then shows a Bunny unsuccessfully attempting to fly off of a building, and ends by asking "Did you really believe that?"; [cite web |title=Bunnies Can't Phone, But They Can Fly |url=http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZCncfXXxZW4 |accessdate=2007-11-12] a later trailer replaces "dance" with drive, then shows a Rabbid crashing a kart racer into the camera, followed by the caption "Well, almost...").

The official E3 teaser video shows creator Michel Ancel being ambushed by a group of bunnies (perhaps as a retaliation for his above quote), who ultimately smash the camera with a toilet brush. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbuT6JoR5cU YouTube - Michel Ancel Bunnies ] ]

The teasers for "Rayman Raving Rabbids 2" have the bunnies traveling around the world and exploring various countries, including a retry of getting inside Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany; where to enter they disguise themselves using Rabbid masks. One also in Japan wherein a Rabbid ends up being "squished" by a sumo wrestler and imagines that he'd been inside a Japanese restaurant, finishing a bottle of wasabi. A sketch about New Zealand on a rugby game is shown wherein a group of Rabbids taunt the country's rugby team (comically), while the other team scares them off through the haka, leaving one Rabbid behind with the ball and being chased and kicked in the ending sequence. The same thing also happened in the USA football sketch, but the only different thing is the Rabbid swallows the ball before being chased and kicked.

The song played in the background is Daft Punk's 1998 single "Around the World".

The latest teaser released in April 2008 features a Rabbid interacting with the Wii Balance Board, with comedic results. The video happens to be the first teaser trailer for "Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party". They appeared in a commercial for Capri-Sun's contest, following the "Respect the Pouch" message as one Rabbid dives off a board and onto an inflated Capri-Sun pouch, causing it and two other Rabbids to be blown away.

In popular culture

A Rabbid made a cameo appearance in a trailer for "Far Cry Vengeance" [cite web |title="Far Cry Vengeance" trailer |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngYYFrDpbiM |accessdate=2007-11-12] and "Red Steel", where they were enemies in the Gaming District level, exploding as they came down a hill the player was forced to climb. They were also used as speakers for the villain of the level. In one part of the level, the Rabbid shout is heard on a recorder in an office.

There's a Rabbid themed chess set in "". [http://chessmaster.uk.ubi.com/xi/pcScreens.php]

The Rabbids have also been featured in some comics drawn by "Penny Arcade" [http://raymanzone.us.ubi.com/newspost.php?news_id=4291] and "VG Cats" [http://www.vgcats.com/othercomics/?strip_id=25] parodying the videos showing the traits of bunnies.

For a period of time, the show "Pants Off Dance Off" often had a Rabbid dancing along in the bottom right corner of the screen.

Movie

A Rabbids movie is said to be in the makings for a worldwide release for the movie theathers.

References

External links

* [http://rabbids.uk.ubi.com Official Rabbids website]
* [http://www.rabbid.tk RabbidDot TK |Fan RRR Site]