Razputin Malcolm Aquato (age 10), or Raz for short, is the main protagonist of the Psychonauts franchise.
He is voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz who also voiced Alpha 5 from Power Rangers, Billy from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Daggett Beaver from The Angry Beavers, and many others.
Appearance[]
In the first game Raz is an average sized child wearing a gray jacket, a green scarf, turquoise pants, brown shoes and a helmet with red goggles (which he does not take off until the end of the first game). He has yellow skin and black hair styled to the right of his head.
Personality[]
Powers and Abilities[]
Raz starts the game with the ability to strike nearby objects with a large psychic hand and to perform a double jump using a bubble of mental energy. While it is not a playable power, Raz also has some degree of telepathic ability which he demonstrates by reading Lili's mind during a cut scene. He also has considerable psychic defenses, despite his young age and lack of formal training. During his stay at Whispering Rock, Raz also learns the following psychic abilities:
- Marksmanship: The ability to channel large amounts of aggression into a damaging psi-blast of focused energy. Raz learns this early on from Sasha Nein. In Psychonauts 2, it is renamed to PSI-Blast, and Raz can now fire in quicker succession.
- Pyrokinesis: The ability to focus psychic power so that objects or creatures burst into flame. Raz learns this at rank 10. In Psychonauts 2, Raz can now use Pyrokinesis as an AOE around him, which can be charged up to increase its radius.
- Telekinesis: The ability to mentally move an object with enough force to inflict significant damage if it strikes another object. Raz learns this when he reaches rank 20. In Psychonauts 2, Raz can now move while using TK or hold to throw an objects.
- Clairvoyance: The ability to see others' perspectives through their own eyes, which often shows Raz how others perceive him. Raz gains this badge in the Milkman Conspiracy after taking it from Boyd's refrigerator. In Psychonauts 2, Raz can use clairvoyance to reveal hidden objects or items.
- Levitation: The ability to levitate on a psychic ball that allows Raz to move more quickly, Bubble Bounce in the air, and PSI Float during a fall. Raz learns this early on from Milla Vodello.
- Confusion: The ability to cloud others' minds with mental grenades, often leading them to attack other nearby beings. Raz gains this badge in Black Velvetopia from Dingo Inflagrante.
- Invisibility: The ability to become invisible to other creatures. Raz learns this at rank 30.
- Shield: The ability to project a mental shield that temporarily protects Raz from damage and, when upgraded, reflects it back to the attacker. Raz gains this badge in Lungfishopolis from a Lungfish Zealot.
- Astral Projection: Raz can astral project into minds using a psycho portal or a brain tumbler.
- Hydrokinesis: Raz is subconsciously creating the Hand of Galochio out of his fear of water. The hand is entirely a manifestation created by Raz.
- Mental Connection: Mental connection is the ability to connect someone else's thoughts. Raz learns mental connection from Hollis Forsythe.
- Time Bubble: The ability to slow down platforms or enemies. Raz learns this in PSI King's Sensorium.
- Mental Projection: Mental Projection is the ability to create an archetype of one's self. Raz learns projection from the teacher archetype of Cassie O'Pia.
History[]
Background[]
Raz is a ten-year-old boy who was born and raised in the circus. He showed signs of psychic powers at a young age, but his father pushed him into constantly practicing difficult acrobatics in an attempt to distract his son from his powers, leading Raz to believe that his father hates him for having psychic abilities even though he suspects his father is a psychic as well.
Raz soon runs away from the circus and infiltrates Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, a secret government camp designed to train psychic agents known as Psychonauts (which a pamphlet handed by an audience member described), escaping on "The World's Smallest Pony" and finding a lumberjack who showed him to the gates. At the same time, Augustus, his father who realized his errors that caused his son's departure, uses his own psychic powers to track Raz down.
For reasons unknown, a family of gypsy psychics from a rival circus was said to have cursed Razputin's family to always die in water. Whenever Raz enters water deeper than a few inches, a supernatural liquid hand attempts to grab him and pull him beneath the surface. The Psychonauts manual refers to this eerie hand as the Hand of Galochio, which is named after the family that imposed the curse. In reality, however, this curse was a lie told by Ford to keep the family safe from Maligula should she rise again, as revealed in Psychonauts 2.
Psychonauts[]
Raz arrived at Whispering Rock and was discovered by Sasha, Milla, and Oleander, who initially disallowed him to participate in camp activities until they discovered his powerful psychic brain.
(More TBA)
Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin[]
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Psychonauts 2[]
After they rescued Truman, the agents arrived at the headquarters, where Hollis assigned Raz to be Nick Johnsmith's (a non-psychic mailroom employee) intern.
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Behind the scenes[]
According to an interview with creator Tim Schafer, "Raz" was the nickname of one of the game's animators, Razmig Mavlian. Schafer "stole" the name, and expanded it to "Rasputin", which was later changed to "Razputin" so that it could be trademarked.
The name Dart (short for D'Artagan) was also considered, however the original Dart's character design was very different from Raz's with a long stocking cap and a thick winter jacket.
This design was carried out until the character was computer animated, when the animators abandoned the image because they felt that the long hat would end up looking like a ponytail, and would cause gamers to think Raz was a girl. The cap was also very hard to animate.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Raz doesn't use Confusion, Invisibility, or Shield in Psychonauts 2 because they aren't as "second nature" to him as his other powers.
External Links[]
- Razputin Aquato on the Near Pure Good Wiki
- Razputin Aquato on the Psychonauts Wiki
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