"PaRappa the Rapper (character)" redirects here. For the video game, see PaRappa The Rapper (video game).
| “ | I gotta believe! | ” |
PaRappa Rappa (パラッパラッパー), alias PaRappa the Rapper and more commonly referred to as PaRappa or Parappa, is a paper-thin rapping dog and the titular protagonist of the franchise. His adventures usually lead to difficult situations which he counters with his catchphrase, "I gotta believe!" and pulls through. He's in love with his girlfriend, Sunny Funny.
Story[]
PaRappa the Rapper - I Gotta Believe![]
PaRappa stars as the main character in his quest to reach his idea of adulthood to prove himself to his crush Sunny Funny, after some inspiration from Joe Chin. He goes to the Fruites Dojo to train with Chop Chop Master Onion, does a test drive with Instructor Mooselini to get his license, gets a job at Prince Fleaswallow's market to raise money after damaging his dad's car, and after Joe Chin causes him to fall onto Sunny's new cake, PaRappa goes on a cooking show with Cheap Cheap to bake a new cake.
Once his cake for Sunny is done. he goes to sleep. The next day, it's Sunny's birthday party! After eating the entire seafood cake he just baked, Katy and PJ leave him alone with Sunny. Sunny is swooning for him the entire time, but PaRappa's stomach catches up to him. PaRappa drives Sunny home, but taking a quick restroom break at Hot Gas. If the player finishes Stage 5 on Cool Mode, Sunny is seen afterwards with her eyes closed, still remembering how tough PaRappa looked.
The next day, PaRappa gets a letter allowing him to perform at Club Fun with one friend. Of course, he invites Sunny, and they both get ready, and PaRappa drives to her place to pick her up. Once arriving, PaRappa and Sunny are pulled apart, but it's time for PaRappa's show to finally prove himself, and his love for Sunny.
Once the show is completed, PaRappa and Sunny's love is sealed, and they are officially dating after this point.
Um Jammer Lammy[]
PaRappa is a secondary protagonist of Um Jammer Lammy alongside Lammy. After completing the main story, an additional story arc is unlocked, starring PaRappa as the player's character. In cutscenes, he is depicted as being enlisted into MilkCan as a helper for everyone else (Lammy, Katy, Ma-san, and Sunny), and later teaming up with his friend PJ in an attempt to start their own rock band, which ultimately leads to failure.
PaRappa the Rapper 2 - Always Love![]
Like the first PaRappa game, PaRappa appears as the main character and is the only playable character in PaRappa The Rapper 2. In the game's battle mode, however, player 2 will play as the instructor of the stage currently being played. In the main story mode, he wins a year supply of noodles, but soon grows tired of them. Sunny invites PaRappa to her house, but when he sees it's all noodles, he complains about it. Sunny calls him a baby, not knowing of his struggle, and PaRappa runs away, with PJ following and rubbing it in.
They go to Beard Burgers to eat burgers, but all the new employee serves them are burgers with noodles, leaving PaRappa displeased. The spirit of the owner of the restaurant, Beard Burger Master appears and encourages PaRappa to rap while he cooks the burgers himself.
Meanwhile, PaRappa's new and true main rival, Colonel Noodle is working on taking over the world with noodles. Despite their differences, PaRappa and Colonel Noodle still have a lot in common. Eventually, PaRappa raps with Colonel Noodle, and he realizes that noodles aren't the only food around.
During the game, PaRappa tries his best to learn to become a man for Sunny. At the end of the game, it's shown that Sunny followed after PaRappa, and learned of his struggle and adventure, and ultimately forgave PaRappa. PaRappa then opens up to Sunny after Colonel Noodle is defeated.
"I've tried so hard to be grown up. But I don't think I really did. So for today's show, I'm gonna do what I always do."
"Don't be silly, PaRappa. You're man enough already. If you keep trying and never give up, you're already a grown up."
"Yeah.. I gotta believe!"
PaRappa the Rapper (anime)[]
In this slice-of-life anime with a high degree of absurdity, PaRappa spends time with his friends at school, with PaRappa trying to work up the confidence to be with Sunny, while newcomers Gaster and Groober cause problems in the town.
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale[]
PaRappa appears as a playable character in the fighting game PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. In PaRappa's story, he is walking down the street and sees his friends, who tell him they're reading a new comic starring Joe Chin, who is portrayed as a hero. He notices his friends adoring Joe, so he decides to become a hero as well. His moves include training from Chop Chop Master Onion, as well as the aid of Boxy Boy and skateboard. His in-game "rival" is Spike from the Ape Escape series. PaRappa returns to see his friends, telling them that Joe Chin disappeared, saying he wasn't invited to a contest that he was hopeful to appear at. PaRappa begins to wonder and asks them to come to the dance club, eager to show off his new style. Unlike his paper-thin appearance in his own games, PaRappa in PlayStation All-Stars has been slightly redesigned, having a thicker design.
Personality & Habits[]
PaRappa can be generally described as outgoing, optimistic, and cheerful. After PaRappa the Rapper 1, he's a lot more confident than he's seen in that game. He can lose his confidence, which puts him in somewhat of an insecure state of mind. To resolve this, he believes in himself, and he feels better again. In PaRappa the Rapper 2, he doesn't even lose confidence at all in the first place, but still saying "I GOTTA BELIEVE!!," showing his character growth. He can also have a little tough-guy edge to him sometimes, for example the cutscene before rapping with Colonel Noodle, his main rival.
Design[]
PaRappa is presented as a square-headed short-statured light-beige dog (aspin or beagle) with black floppy ears and a dark brown nose. He is sometimes portrayed with brown irises. His orange (sometimes red) knit cap which covers his head has a frog symbol on it. He wears dark blue baggy jeans, a powder blue tank top and red sneakers with a white, wavy stripe on each side.
The name "PaRappa" is a play on Japanese words meaning "paper thin", referring to the game's art style.[1] In media outside of the games, PaRappa is given a more 3D appearance as the flat art style is hard to work with in dynamic artwork.
According to designer Rodney Alan Greenblat, PaRappa's age would be "probably 18" in the games, and "much younger" in the anime due to attending public school.[2] However, this can be rebutted, as there was a website created around the PlayStation Portable version of the game, which contained PaRappa's profile. The website's profile stated he was 15.[citation needed] Again, however, this is the only source where this specific age is mentioned, and was said long after the original game released. Either depiction or source, his height differs strongly from his parents.
A running gag involves the top of PaRappa's head which he covers with his beanie, such as in "Hair Scare", where reaching Bad/Awful will cause Takoyama to angrily tell him what's inside it. In the final episode of the anime series, the others saw what was at the top of PaRappa's head when the birds took it off and were freaked out by the appearance. It was covered right until the birds gave him back his hat. In the Bad and Awful mode of "Stage 6: Taste Of Teriyaki" from Um Jammer Lammy, a skeleton of the frog on PaRappa's hat is shown briefly.
PaRappa's hat has a frog emblem on the front. Frogs usually mean good luck in Japan, so it's almost like his hat is a good-luck charm.
Trivia[]
- His catchphrase, "I gotta believe!" is said by him in almost every pre-level cutscene. The exceptions include his stages in Um Jammer Lammy, and additionally stage 5 of PaRappa the Rapper and stage 7 of PaRappa the Rapper 2. In the later stage, the catchphrase is said by Colonel Noodle instead.
- During the development process for PaRappa, Rodney had considered several designs, including an onion version named "Onion Rappa" and a Godzilla-like version named "PaRappaZilla." Ultimately, he decided to make PaRappa a dog.
Gallery[]
