Rio Characters

In late January 2011, Rovio Mobile had announced a version of Angry Birds that was released on March 22nd 2011 as a tie in with the animated film Rio, titled Angry Birds Rio. Below are the characters of the film seen in the game.

Blu
Tyler Blu Gunderson, or simply, Blu, is the main protagonist of Rio and is a rare species of blue macaw (Spix's Macaw [Cyanopsitta spixii]) that originated from a bookstore in Minnesota, taken by unseen smugglers and shipped to Rio, the same fate to later be suffered by the Angry Birds, as their species (Red, Blue, Yellow, etc;) are also described as rare.

The Angry Birds do not meet Blu until the very end of the episode Smuggler's Den, where he is locked up in a cage next to Jewel, the only other Spix's Macaw in existence. He is later used in Jungle Escape as a playable bird in the Rio Theme 6-15, connected to Jewel. When tapped or clicked, Jewel will fly forward with Blu being pulled behind her.

He is still armed with Jewel in Beach Volley however in Carnival Upheaval he is separate. Blu, this time, has a new ability. Once he hits an object, he'll shake himself up causing spreading of objects.

Jewel
Jewel is the deuteragonist of Rio, and appears alongside Blu, trapped in the same cage that he is contained in. Once she is freed, she becomes a usable Bird but is only used in some levels in Beach Volley and the final level of ''Jungle Escape. ''When tapped or clicked, she flies straight dragging Blu along. She was later captured by Nigel in the end of the episode, Beach Volley.

Nigel
Nigel is the main antagonist in Rio and Angry Birds Rio. He is a Sulfur-crested Cockatoo. He captures the Angry Birds along with other rare species. He is battled in the last level of Jungle Escape as the first boss character in the entire Angry Birds series. Nigel appears as the Angry Birds' first enemy that moves on its own. He is appeared in theme 4-15 and theme 12-15.

Rafael
Rafael is a Toco Toucan who is the the Toucan Kids' father and Eva's husband. He is non-playable. He tells Luiz to remove the chain to free Blu and Jewel. He is a background character.

Luiz
Luiz is a bulldog from Rio. In the movie, he assists Blu and Jewel by helping to remove the chain from their legs. In the game, he appears in Beach Volley level 6-15 as a non-playble character who assists you.



During game play, as soon as the first beach ball hits the ground, Luiz will appear and chase it, then pop it for points. As each new ball hits the ground, he will run after it and pop it. If marmosets or crates are in the way of him reaching the ball, he will destroy them, as well.

Players do not have any direct control of Luiz, but can use the birds to try to drop beach balls strategically to cause Luiz to destroy anything and everything on the bottom row of level.

Luiz's game sprite appears with two brown front legs rather than one white and one brown. This was most likely done for ease of animation.

Marmosets
Typical Marmosets are tiny monkey creatures who are the "minions" of Nigel, sent to defeat the Birds after they escape from the smuggler's den. These Marmosets act as a role of the antagonist of the original Angry Birds game, the Pigs. Unlike Pigs, Marmosets can roll back right-side up after being tipped over and they can easily be killed by 1 bird. They also can, but not always, survive after falling. Marmosets do not take damage when bounced by floaties or parasols. They are the main antagonists following the first chapter, and appear in several sizes. In the final level of Carnival Upheaval, the head of the marmoset gang, Mauro, appears as a boss.

Caged Birds
The Caged Birds are a few species of birds (purple, pink, etc.) that appear in Smuggler's Den as prisoners of the smugglers. It is implied that they, like the Angry Birds (Red, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Green, etc.) are rare species or, as told in the official game trailer, "exceptionally rare species". The other birds try to free them from their cages by slinging themselves at the cages; when a cage breaks, the caged bird flies offscreen.