Rio Characters


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''This article is about the Rio characters. For information on the characters from Angry Birds and Angry Birds Seasons, see: Birds. For the characters from Angry Birds Space, see: Space Characters. For the characters from Angry Birds Star Wars, see: Star Wars 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 that appear in the game.

Blu
Tyler Blu Gunderson, or simply, Blu, (known as Blue in the game) is the main protagonist of Rio and Rio 2. He 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 don't 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 (chained to Blu) 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,the final level of Jungle Escape and a couple of Market Mayhem. She makes Bomb's pain noises. She was kidnapped by Nigel in the episode Smuggler's Den on the final level, then got free by the Angry Birds. She is chained to Blu, and when clicked or tapped, she flies straight forward. As shown in the Rio movie, she has 3 baby macaws.

Nigel
 Nigel the Cockatoo, known simply as Nigel, is the main antagonist in Rio, Rio 2 and Angry Birds Rio. He is an evil Sulphur-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.Nigel is stronger in level 12-15 than in level 4-15. You get 10,000 points if you defeat him. Nigel also appears trapped in a cage in level 20 of High Dive. He will laugh at the birds when freed and cannot be defeated. This is his only appearance where he must not be fought.

Rafael
Rafael is a Toco Toucan who is the the father of 18 Toucan Kids also one egglet' 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-playable character who assists the player on 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. ​

If you drop an egg bomb or explode on him, Luiz will be able to jump.

Nico & Pedro
Nico is a Yellow Canary who wears a soda bottle cap for a hat, and Pedro, Nico's best friend, is a rapping Red-Crested Cardinal. Despite not making an appearance in the Angry Birds Rio game at the time, Rovio did make plush toys of Nico & Pedro. They might make an appearance in the Rio 2 episodes as playable characters or in the cutscenes.

Samba Bird
Samba Bird is a bird from a exclusive power-up called Samba Burst

Appearance
The Samba Bird looks like the Red Bird but has a Samba Hat and a happy expression.

Marmosets
Marmosets are small monkeys who are the "minions" of Nigel, sent to defeat the Birds after they escape from 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
Mauro is the leader of the marmosets and Nigel's henchman. In Angry Birds Rio, he appears as a boss in level 8-15 of Carnival Upheaval and in 14-15 of Market Mayhem. In Market Mayhem, he brought along some of his army of Marmosets to assist him. 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 failure 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 Blue and Gold Macaw and a Scarlet Ibis) that appear in Smuggler's Den, Airfield Chase  and Smuggler's Plane as prisoners of the Smugglers. It is implied that they, like the Angry Birds (Red, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Green, White, Black and Big Brother.) 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.