Count Razoff

Count Razoff Shoedsackovski is a character from  Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc. The last descendant of the royal Shoedsackovskaïa family of maniacal hunters, Count Razoff is a tall green reptilian creature who lives in a mansion in the Bog of Murk. He bears some resemblance to a Teensie, as well as to the species of Inspector GrubThe Animated Series. Dressed in a red and gold outfit, he sports a shotgun which shoots arrows at any intruders that dare to enter his mansion. He is a formidable but extremely egotistical hunter, and his mansion is decorated with a great many paintings and sculptures of himself, as well as mirrors and ‘statues of his finest catches’, including Uglies, piranhas, and Sssssam the Watersnake from Rayman 2

Biography
Main article: Shoedsackovskaïa family The in-game information states that Count Razoff is the son of Count Zaroff, and the grandson of Nimrod and Artemis. He also claims to hold the Chair of Cynegenics at the University of Tyr-Kainkou. He has settled in the Bog of Murk, as is his family's tradition, and he will return to his homeland only when he has captured an exotic prey. He also appears to enjoy capturing lesser creatures; several Uglies are imprisoned in his mansion, and at least one Mawpaw is locked up in his dungeon. It is not known if his mansion was handed down to him from his father, or if each member of the family must have their own dwelling constructed in the region. ‘Schoedsackovski’ is not explicitly mentioned as Razoff's surname, but this detail can be derived from actual Slavic surnames of similar form. Each member of Razoff's family is named after a great fictional or mythical hunter. Razoff's father, Count Zaroff, is named in reference to the character General Zaroff from Richard Connell's 1924 novella ‘The Most Dangerous Game’. ‘Razoff’ is simply ‘Zaroff’ with the ‘Z’ and the ‘R’ switched, and the characters bear many other similarities. Nimrod, Razoff's grandfather, is named after a great biblical hunter, and Artemis, Razoff's grandmother, is presumably named in reference to the Greek goddess of hunting. The ‘Shoedsackovskaïa’ surname was created by adding a Slavic suffix to the surname of Ernest Schoedsack, the director of the 1932 film adaptation of The Most Dangerous Game – this film is the first work to depict the character of Zaroff as a count rather than a general, and seems to have been a significant influence on Rayman 3.

Count Razoff's mansion
Razoff's mansion is located in the Bog of Murk. It is very large and classical mansion with many statues inside including statues of Sssssam, piranhas and a statue of Razoff riding a Goaty (a scrapped character from the game). There are also several bug-like creatures called Uglies which can be found chained-up in his mansion; if Rayman frees the Uglies, they thank him by giving him Red Lums before flying away. Typical for Razoff, in his mansion is a vast array of guns and a cannon. Globox was accidentally transported to the basement of Razoff's mansion when he was separated from Rayman in the Teensie Highway. Also in the basement are a large ball and chain which Razoff attempts to kill Rayman with, a magic mirror similar to the one found in Bégoniax's house, and at least one Mawpaw, a large plesiosaur-like creature with a hand for a head which Razoff was apparently keeping imprisoned, and who helps Rayman out in the battle by giving him Heavy Metal Fist power-ups and placing him back on the platform when he falls down. Razoff has several statues of Sssssam the snake in his mansion, hinting that Razoff has encountered, or at least knows of, the character. Most likely, Razoff has hunted Sssssam at some point. Whether he actually killed or captured Sssssam at some point between Rayman 2 and Rayman 3 is unknown; however, it should be noted that Razoff's inherited obligation to capture an exotic prey does not yet seem to be fulfilled by the time of Rayman 3. The room in which Razoff's telescope is housed contains a wide array of switches and control panels. Some of the equipment seen in the room is identical to that used by the Robo-Pirate invaders in Rayman 2, which suggests that Razoff may be putting some old Robo-Pirate wreckage to work. The Hoodlum vehicle Céloche, fought in the Land of the Livid Dead, also appears to be constructed from the wreckage of Robo-Pirate installations. Razoff is last seen struggling in the grip of Bégoniax, the witch who is madly in love with him. It is said that Bégoniax exacts revenge on the men who reject her love by transforming them into toads, and that she then breeds with them, producing so many tadpoles that she does not know what to do with them. This offers a clue as to Razoff's potential fate. ==Role in the series.== Ever since the events of Rayman 3, more or less, Razoff has grown to actselly love the albeit still hopelessly deludional Beginiax. However, Doctor Nefarious desided to kidnap and banish Beginiax into an almost unescapeable dimention and only agreed to let her go in return for Razoff to obey him.

In Issue 2 of the Shell Louge Tales, Nefarious forced Razoff to capture Spongebob and Squidward, almost anticlimaticly thanks to Spongebob's child-like innosence and over-trusting nature and Squidward just giving up too easily. However, Razoff got betrayed by Nefarious wanting to perimently turn Razoff into a member of Team Nefarious, as well with plans to dig for oil in the Bog and a typical hostage situation plan wth Squidward and Spongebob. Spongebob and Squidward won over Razoff and the three were able to wreck Nefarious' construction site. Though they weren't able to save Beginiax, Razoff was given a new family with the Lougers, with even promises to create a way to get Beginiax out of the dimentional imprisonment and into High Council protection.