Rio Characters


 * Crop1rio.jpg

For information on the characters from Angry Birds and Angry Birds Seasons, see: Birds.

For information on the characters from Angry Birds Space, see: Space Characters.

In late January 2011, Rovio Mobile announced a version of Angry Birds as a tie-in with the animated film Rio, titled Angry Birds Rio.

The game was released on March 22nd, 2011. Below are the characters of the game.

Blu
Tyler Blu Gunderson, or simply, Blu, (known as Blue in the game) is the main protagonist of Rio, and is a rare species of blue macaw 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. When Blu and Jewel are freed from their cage, they don't fly away like the others, but instead, they act like a Golden Egg. 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. He was later kidnapped by Nigel at the end of this episode. Yet in some levels in Airfield Chase and Smuggler's Plane, you use Blu, however he was rescued at the end of Airfield Chase. As Blu and Jewel hop onto the slingshot, Blu makes a battle cry. He is Jewel's husband.

Jewel
Jewel is the deuteragonist of Rio, and appears alongside Blu, trapped in the same cage that he is contained in, as she is the only other Spix's Macaw. 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 with her. She makes Bomb's pain noises. She was later kidnapped by Nigel in the end of the episode, Beach Volley, but rescued after the episode, Airfield Chase. She is Blu's wife, and she has 3 baby macaws.

Nigel
Cocks Nigel Cockatoo, known simply as Nigel, is the secondary antagonist in Rio and Angry Birds Rio. He is a Sulfur-Crested Cockatoo. He kidnaps 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 has appeared in theme 4-15 and theme 12-15. Some people think that Nigel is stronger in level 12-15 than in level 4-15. You get 10,000 points if you defeat it.

Rafael
Rafael is a Toco Toucan who is the the father of 18 Toucan Kids' 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 but is really useful in the cut-scene.

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-playable character who assists the player. But he was a boss for 6-15.



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
Marmosets are tiny primates who are the "minions" of Nigel, sent to defeat the Birds after they escape from the Smuggler's Den. These Marmosets act in the role of antagonists, as the Pigs do in the Classic Angry Birds game. Unlike Pigs, Marmosets can roll back right-side up after being tipped over. They occasionally survive after falling.

Marmosets do not take damage when bounced onto floaties or parasols. In the final level of Carnival Upheaval, the head of the marmoset, Mauro, appears as a boss.

Mauro
 Maurois the leader of the marmosets. In Angry Birds Rio, he appears as a boss in level 8-15 of Carnival Upheaval. It takes a lot of damage to defeat him. The best tactic to defeat Mauro is to use the White Bird's egg bombs.

Upon defeating Mauro, players are presented with a new story cut-scene. While you are on the level, he jumps from platform to platform until you defeat him. If a player does not defeat him, Mauro's face appears on the "Level Failed" screen.

Mauro is distinguished from the other Marmosets by several features. In the game, he appears much larger than the other Marmosets. In the game and the movie, he has brown fur, not gray and has a paperclip in his hair. In the movie, he wears a gold watch as a belt. He has far too much bling and is a master at Capoeira.

Caged Birds
Caged Birds are a few species of birds (purple, pink, red, blue, yellow and green ; also a red bird mixed with a blue jay; also a blue and gold macaw and a scarlet ibis) 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 and Purple.) are rare species as the official game trailer refers to them as, "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 away.