Character Overview:
Ruby, the son of the Petalburg Gymleader Norman, is the main male protagonist of the RS series, and zealously follows the path of a contest coordinator. He is fascinated by beautiful things, and is adept in sewing, grooming, and just about everything that makes his Pokemon stylish and attractive. He judges a Pokemon by its looks, and is attracted to ones that could potentially shine in a Pokemon contest. On the other hand, he deems Pokemon battling as barbaric, and dislikes engaging in them. Yet, in the absence of bystanders, Ruby acts as if he is a completely different person, and demonstrates highly trained battling skills.
The truth is, Ruby used to be a battle lover when he was a little boy, but an incident at the age of six changed his life completely. At that time, Norman was about to sit for the Gymleader Selection Test, and Prof. Birch has come from Hoenn with his daughter Sapphire to give support to him. A wild Salamence attacked young Ruby and Sapphire, and Ruby tactfully beat it with his Pokemon, but the terrifying experience made Sapphire cry, and Ruby believed that he has tarnished the pure and innocent soul in her. From then on, Ruby began to pursue beauty in life, and vowed never to let people see him battle again. For the same reason, he showed little care towards the impending crisis of Hoenn, and refused to join the fight.
Ruby's decision to abandon battling was clearly not well received by his father, who was a battle maniac and has personally trained him since he was young, and this caused Ruby to run away from home to follow his own dreams. However, little did he know that Norman was actually ready to give him freedom to do what he liked, but his irresponsible behaviour infuriated the man, and the two ended up having a deadly battle at the Weather Institute. Ruby recognized his father's love after they resolved their dispute, but it wasn't until the final battle at Sootopolis that Ruby finally realized the aftermath of his childhood Salamence incident actually set off a series of consequences, which Norman has taken responsibility of, and accepted the punishment to pursue the sky titan, Rayquaza, eventually costing his own life until Celebi resurrected all the lost ones.
Ruby became Wallace's student after being blown away by the man's skills in a contest, and it was eventually Wallace's words that made Ruby realize his lack of trust in his Pokemon, and finally made him decide to join the battle to safeguard Hoenn. Ruby is acquainted with Gabby and Ty, who travelled a lot with him in their TV station's van. Interestingly, Ruby also shares a close bond with Courtney, who once tried to persuade Ruby to join Team Magma, and partnered up with him in the final battle at Sootopolis. It was through Courtney's Memory Firelighter that Ruby learnt of Norman's deal with Rayquaza.
Since the Salamence incident, Ruby has been in love with Sapphire, but they ironically failed to recognize each other when they met again, and became rivals instead. While Sapphire picked on Ruby's sissy behaviour, Ruby mocked her for her barbarian nature, but the two gradually became friends despite a serious fallout when Ruby showed his difference towards Hoenn's fate. Towards the end of the RS series, when Sapphire confessed her feelings to Ruby, he finally realized that she was the little girl in his childhood, and confessed his own feelings. Yet, after the Groudon and Kyogre crisis, Ruby never brought up the issue again, and currently shares an ambiguous relationship with Sapphire.
His personality seemed to have changed and opened up slightly since he decided to take part in the battle against Groudon and Kyogre, and became more prominent when he returned in the Emerald series. While he kept his sissy attitude and continued to be a beauty advocate, he adopted a more generous and energetic behaviour and no longer appeared to be so self-centered, showing more care for people around him. This was most evident in his tournament match against Emerald at the Battle Dome, where his agenda was not to win but to befriend Emerald and help Sceptile regain its memory.
Ruby's design is based on the male protagonist of the third generation Game Boy Advance Pokemon titles, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. On top of the long-sleeved outfit identical to his game counterpart, he carries around a microphone and various grooming accessories with him, and is depicted to have a sissy personality. Although he has severe shortsightedness, he usually wears contact lenses and is very rarely seen with actual glasses. He also has a pair of Running Shoes, which is Norman's birthday present to him, and the shoes saved both of them from a deadly fall at the Weather Institute. Due to the Salamence incident in his childhood, he has a prominent scar on his forehead, which he covers up with his hat.
Towards the end of the RS series, Ruby made himself a new green-based outfit to match the one his game counterpart wears in the third game sequel, Pokemon Emerald, except his bagpack, which remained yellow. In the Emerald series, he returned with a red outfit, but with identical design to his green-based one. Together with Sapphire, they are the two Pokedex Holders who have the highest frequency of attire change. In the flashback of Ruby's childhood, he was a tough battle-boy, and wore the same long-sleeved outfit as he did at the beginning of the RS series, with his jacket unbuttoned. Like his name, Ruby's eyes have varying shades of ruby red.
Ruby's journey began when his family moved from Johto to Hoenn on the day of his tenth birthday. Believing that his father Norman, who is a battle maniac, would never allow him to pursue the path of a coordinator, he ran away from home right away upon arrival. A fateful encounter with Prof. Birch, who was chased after by two Mightyenas, caused Ruby to be rescued by Sapphire, but a misunderstanding provoked hostility from Sapphire, and their contrasting beliefs and goals ended up in an 80-day pact in which Ruby would conquer all contests while Sapphire did the same for gyms. Ruby took a Pokedex and Mudkip from Prof. Birch's bagpack during the incident, and officially embarked on his journey after that.
At Petalburg, Ruby met Wally, a chronically ill youngster, and helped him capture his first Pokemon, but an unexpected earthquake threw Ruby into the oceans, and he was saved by old Mr. Briney, who told him about a deep sea Pokemon capable of taking humans to extreme ocean depths. At Dewford, Ruby briefly met Steven, during which Nana and Coco evolved. After meeting up with Sapphire, they teamed up against Team Magma on the Abandoned Ship, and went separate ways again upon reaching Slateport. There, Ruby encountered the Pokemon Fan Club President and was ready to begin his contest challenges, but another intervention by Team Magma eventually led him to Route 119, where he was finally caught up by Norman and the two engaged in a deadly battle at the Weather Institute.
After resolving the dispute with his father, Ruby officially began his contest quest, but soon had a showdown with Team Magma's Courtney at the Rusturf Tunnel, after which he met Wallace at the Super Rank Contest, and became his disciple. During the emergent meeting of gymleaders at Fortree, Ruby and Sapphire were about to become friends, but the rampaging of some wild Pokemon made Sapphire realize that Ruby's weakness was pretence all along. Ruby's indifference towards Hoenn's fate infuriated Sapphire, and the two once again parted on bad terms.
Team Magma and Team Aqua finally succeeded in awakening Groudon and Kyogre, and the entire Hoenn fell into its worst crisis ever. However, Ruby fled to Slateport to escape from everything, yet lost his temper during the Hyper Rank Contest, causing Mimi to run away. Wallace's harsh criticism made Ruby realize his faults, and he finally decided to join forces with everyone else to defend Hoenn. Together with Sapphire, they travelled to the Seafloor Cavern to face off Maxie and Archie, but the evil leaders were eventually taken over by the Red and Blue Orbs, and brought the battleground to Sootopolis, where Groudon and Kyogre clashed, and Ruby and Sapphire worked together to free the mystical jewels from the evil men using the powers of the Grand Meteor fragment.
Unfortunately, this failed to stop the ancient titans, and the powerful energy explosion sent the Red and Blue Orbs into the bodies of Ruby and Sapphire. They were rescued and taken to the Mirage Island by Juan, who trained them to control the jewels along with Tate and Liza. On return to Sootopolis, Sapphire confessed her feelings for Ruby, and he finally realized that she was the special little girl from his childhood 5 years ago. Not wanting to subject her to peril, he tricked the Blue Orb away from Sapphire and locked her into Wallace's air-car, and collaborated with Courtney instead. However, their attempt failed, and Norman arrived on Rayquaza, finally stopping Groudon and Kyogre with the sky titan's Roar of Ordinance and the combined powers of the two orbs.
Just when the crisis seemed to be over, Archie and Maxie resurfaced and seized Norman, Courtney and Ruby. Wallace and Sapphire rushed to their rescue, but the evil team leaders held Winona hostage, forcing Wallace to succumb. Mimi eventually returned to intervene, and following its evolution, Ruby and Sapphire powered up Plusle and Minun with the New Mauville power generator machine, and unleashed a deadly electric attack, finally stopping Archie and Maxie. At that time, Ruby sent out Celebi, the mysterious Pokemon he encountered in Johto, who resurrected Norman, Steven and Courtney, and returned everything to peace with the Red and Blue Orbs. At the end of the series, both Ruby and Sapphire succeeded in fulfilling their part of the pact, and met up at Sapphire's secret base once more.
Emerald Series
10 months later, Prof. Birch sent Ruby and Sapphire to the Battle Frontier to find and assist the third Pokedex Holder, Emerald, in his quest to protect Jirachi. They attended the wedding ceremony of Wanda and Roger while sailing on Mr. Briney's S.S. Tidal, and encountered Emerald at the Battle Dome with a not so pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, Emerald resented the two's presence, and Ruby and Sapphire decided to participate in the Dome Tournament to get acquainted with the boy.
In the semi-finals, Ruby battled Emerald, and although he eventually lost the fight, he managed to make Sceptile regain its memories as Prof. Birch's Treecko through his words and provocation. Afterwards, Ruby and Sapphire were approached by the Palace Maven Spenser, who recognized Sapphire's connection to the Blue Orb simply by looking into her eyes. Ruby used his Memory Firelighter to record their odd encounter, and when the evil Guile Hideout finally captured Jirachi, Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald rushed to the Battle Tower, where the met up with Noland and took on the Tower challenge as a team of four.
At the summit, they found Anabel brainwashed by Guile Hideout, and Spenser eventually made use of Latios and Latias's shared vision to reveal the secret of the Blue Orb relating to all those who have come into contact with it, forcing the armoured man to show himself as no other than Archie. Through Jirachi, Archie created a giant sea monster to flood the entire Frontier, and Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald were soon joined by Gold and Crys, the Johto Dex Holders, who revealed that their real goal in acquiring Jirachi was to reverse the petrifaction of their five seniors.
In the transparent house created by Crys, Ruby's Zuzu learnt the ultimate water attack, and after Emerald successfully revived Red, Green, Blue, Yellow and Silver through Jirachi, the 10 Dex Holders teamed up to fire off the combined ultimate attacks to disperse the giant sea monster, restoring peace to the Battle Frontier.
Pokémon on his Active Team
Pokémon he has had or been partnered with
