Post by Glimmericious on Jun 28, 2016 20:07:10 GMT 11
So, I've spent the past 3-4 hours digging around the Pokemon Adventures manga, looking into what makes Ruby tick. After a while, I think I've got a reasonably solid theory down. I even went ahead and thought about how it impacts his behavior and his relationship with Sapphire - or lack thereof.
The very first thing we'd need to analyze to get a grasp of Ruby is the Salamence attack that triggered his transformation into the contest-loving fanatic we know today. Ruby's fight with the Salamence resulted in the scar on his forehead, as well making Sapphire cry, even if it was for different reasons than Ruby had expected. To quote Ruby, he believed he had 'tainted her crystal heart.' As such, he swore off the brutality that was Pokemon battling and devoted himself to beauty.
This is actually the easiest part to discuss. His mental state gradually becomes worse and more complex as we check into what happened after the attack, as well as the beginning of Ruby's abandonment and emotional issues.
The Salamence Attack
The very first thing we'd need to analyze to get a grasp of Ruby is the Salamence attack that triggered his transformation into the contest-loving fanatic we know today. Ruby's fight with the Salamence resulted in the scar on his forehead, as well making Sapphire cry, even if it was for different reasons than Ruby had expected. To quote Ruby, he believed he had 'tainted her crystal heart.' As such, he swore off the brutality that was Pokemon battling and devoted himself to beauty.
This is actually the easiest part to discuss. His mental state gradually becomes worse and more complex as we check into what happened after the attack, as well as the beginning of Ruby's abandonment and emotional issues.
Norman's Departure
Soon after the issue with the Salamence, Norman would be forced to leave Ruby. This would probably have a much bigger impact than you'd expect. Being a little kid, Ruby would be very easy to fulfill the emotional desires of. The way we would be led to believe he got 'close' to his family was probably through his training sessions with his Dad. Sapphire aside, Norman, the person Ruby was closest to, would just randomly leave his life with no real precursor.
I believe this would naturally set in stone Ruby's own abandonment issues, but more on that later. For now, I just wanted to get that out there.
I believe this would naturally set in stone Ruby's own abandonment issues, but more on that later. For now, I just wanted to get that out there.
Ruby's New Contest Craze
This is where things a get dicer. Ruby would likely swear off battling forever, train Pokemon for contests. That would be fine - Assuming Norman was not his father. Not only did Norman disagree with this, but he actively opposed Ruby at every singe turn. The father that Ruby looked up to for so long had suddenly become his worst enemy. This would definitely make Ruby a bit more... paranoid. That said, Ruby would continue with his goals, even with Norman constantly opposing him when he could.
My random thoughts on how this would impact his life, personality, and relationship with Sapphire
So, the Salamence is now the least of our concerns. Ruby hasn't mentioned hating battles since about partway through the Ruby/Sapphire arc. We can confirm he's over that fiasco. His little mountain of problems comes from what happened NEXT.
So, I'll get ahead and get my thoughts out of the way - Norman did awful with Ruby. For one, it can basically be confirmed that Ruby was outright SCARED of Norman. For two, because of Norman's efforts, Ruby ultimately adopted a much 'deflective' personality type - throughout the manga, he tends to deflect conversations about his own personal feelings. While his Mom would try to have to him do things as a family, she doesn't push Ruby. That, in my opinion, is a mistake. Because he's never pushed, Ruby's constant frustrations and anger would constantly build up, which he plays off with a veil of apathy.
Also, I really think that Ruby definitely ended up with abandonment issues from this. His constant rejection of Sapphire's constant advances could be connected with Norman leaving him - Ruby believes that Sapphire will eventually one day leave him as well, and she he deflects the conversation as best he can, even going so far as to say he doesn't remember saying he likes her. On another issue with Sapphire - Ruby does not trust Sapphire. It could be viewed as him trying to 'protect' her, but I seriously doubt that's the whole story. Perhaps shown by the aircar incident and then keeping knowledge of the meteor away from her, Ruby seriously does not trust Sapphire with his life. That's just the vibe I get.
Sapphire definitely shows this. She seems outright betrayed when she finds out, and knowing that everyone else in the room but her knew about cannot be a very solid kick to the self esteem.
I'd also like to try and use Sapphire as a comparison. While Sapphire was supported by Professor Birch and had a network of people to support her change into more a wild child, Ruby had... basically no one he could talk to. His Dad would probably laugh him off, he deflects his Mom anyway... As a result, while Sapphire came out rather strange but emotionally stable, Ruby has a giant mess of issues beneath his skin that he tries not to let out. For example - Mimi. When he yelled at her, I doubt he was that angry about it. That's probably just him letting out a bit of that repressed emotion, built up by Norman continuously pressing his buttons all throughout his childhood.
So, in summary - Ruby's constantly repressed emotions all throughout his childhood as his father actively opposed his dreams, as well as the abandonment issues that probably resulted in his 'hero,' Norman, leaving his life as definitely having a heavy toll. While Ruby usually acts quite calm and relaxed, he has a veil of apathy that makes him really hard to read. That said, this is the state we want him in. His repressed anger just gradually builds inside of him, until, eventually, he explodes and that tends to be a bad time for everyone.
In terms of Sapphire, Ruby's fear of Sapphire abandoning him is definitely going to sink the ship. He constantly diverts her attempts to get close to him, and has no trust in her whatsoever. As such, we can assume that, the way things are proceeding, Franticshipping will not be a canon thing. What Ruby really needs is a talk. A nice, long chance to sit down and talk about his problems - A chance he's never gotten from people like Norman. If someone more supportive than Norman had been his father, we could have been saved a lot of grief.
Ruby is, in essence, an emotional wreck, but he's a pretty great one. Maybe I'll take a crack at Sapphire as well or something. I doubt she has close to as many issues as Ruby, but I could be completely wrong.
Also, it's 4 AM, so I apologize if anything I just wrote was absolute nonsense. I'm going somewhat crazy here.
So, I'll get ahead and get my thoughts out of the way - Norman did awful with Ruby. For one, it can basically be confirmed that Ruby was outright SCARED of Norman. For two, because of Norman's efforts, Ruby ultimately adopted a much 'deflective' personality type - throughout the manga, he tends to deflect conversations about his own personal feelings. While his Mom would try to have to him do things as a family, she doesn't push Ruby. That, in my opinion, is a mistake. Because he's never pushed, Ruby's constant frustrations and anger would constantly build up, which he plays off with a veil of apathy.
Also, I really think that Ruby definitely ended up with abandonment issues from this. His constant rejection of Sapphire's constant advances could be connected with Norman leaving him - Ruby believes that Sapphire will eventually one day leave him as well, and she he deflects the conversation as best he can, even going so far as to say he doesn't remember saying he likes her. On another issue with Sapphire - Ruby does not trust Sapphire. It could be viewed as him trying to 'protect' her, but I seriously doubt that's the whole story. Perhaps shown by the aircar incident and then keeping knowledge of the meteor away from her, Ruby seriously does not trust Sapphire with his life. That's just the vibe I get.
Sapphire definitely shows this. She seems outright betrayed when she finds out, and knowing that everyone else in the room but her knew about cannot be a very solid kick to the self esteem.
I'd also like to try and use Sapphire as a comparison. While Sapphire was supported by Professor Birch and had a network of people to support her change into more a wild child, Ruby had... basically no one he could talk to. His Dad would probably laugh him off, he deflects his Mom anyway... As a result, while Sapphire came out rather strange but emotionally stable, Ruby has a giant mess of issues beneath his skin that he tries not to let out. For example - Mimi. When he yelled at her, I doubt he was that angry about it. That's probably just him letting out a bit of that repressed emotion, built up by Norman continuously pressing his buttons all throughout his childhood.
So, in summary - Ruby's constantly repressed emotions all throughout his childhood as his father actively opposed his dreams, as well as the abandonment issues that probably resulted in his 'hero,' Norman, leaving his life as definitely having a heavy toll. While Ruby usually acts quite calm and relaxed, he has a veil of apathy that makes him really hard to read. That said, this is the state we want him in. His repressed anger just gradually builds inside of him, until, eventually, he explodes and that tends to be a bad time for everyone.
In terms of Sapphire, Ruby's fear of Sapphire abandoning him is definitely going to sink the ship. He constantly diverts her attempts to get close to him, and has no trust in her whatsoever. As such, we can assume that, the way things are proceeding, Franticshipping will not be a canon thing. What Ruby really needs is a talk. A nice, long chance to sit down and talk about his problems - A chance he's never gotten from people like Norman. If someone more supportive than Norman had been his father, we could have been saved a lot of grief.
Ruby is, in essence, an emotional wreck, but he's a pretty great one. Maybe I'll take a crack at Sapphire as well or something. I doubt she has close to as many issues as Ruby, but I could be completely wrong.
Also, it's 4 AM, so I apologize if anything I just wrote was absolute nonsense. I'm going somewhat crazy here.
