- For the Summoner version of this character, see Rufioh Nitram (post-scratch).
- Not to be confused with Rufio.
Rufioh Nitram was a bronze blooded troll living on Beforus shortly before he and the rest of his session caused the Reckoning.[2]
He is the Rogue of Breath and the dancestor of Tavros Nitram.
Concept and creation[]
Rufioh's character is heavily inspired by that of Dante Basco, the actor behind the Rufio character who inspired the Summoner and who was himself inspired to read Homestuck by his fans. Rufioh's speech patterns are inspired by the way Basco expresses himself on his blog. Rufioh's "Lost Weaboos"[citation needed] are a reference to Rufio's band of misfits from the Hook film, the "Lost Boys".
Rufioh's letter replacement quirk seems to derive from the "“t1ck” “t0ck”" genetic code used to create Doc Scratch; Andrew Hussie has hinted that this is a quirk associated with Rufioh's descendant Tavros, who is merely "so lame, he's always forgotten to type with [it.]"
Rufioh borrows his title of Rogue from the Beta troll Nepeta Leijon; this forms part of a chain of class swaps, with the A1 session having a Rogue of Breath, Mage of Heart, Heir of Doom and Page of Void, while the post-scratch session has a Page of Breath, Rogue of Heart, Mage of Doom and Heir of Void.
His title also alludes to the English language expression "to take someone's breath away", which Horuss references when he says Rufioh “stole [his] breath away #With but a roguish glance”[citation needed].
Etymology[]
Rufioh's name is merely Rufio's name extended to the standard six letters of troll names.
Biography[]
Much like his dancestor Tavros, Rufioh is a fan of Fiduspawn. According to Meenah Peixes, he was born with his wings (or rather, sprouted them upon “puperty” [sic] 
i.e. pupation). Rufioh calls himself a “m*tant” for it, and according to Aranea Serket, he was an outcast due to it as well. For these reasons, Rufioh admits that he does not have high self-esteem, or not nearly as high as those around him think he does. To avoid the unwanted and negative attention, he went to live in the wooden village, with tree huts and rope ladders, with people who would accept him, known as the "Lost Weeaboos". Or as Rufioh put it, he followed his lusus into the woods instead, where he met Damara Megido and presumably Horuss Zahhak as well.
He was romantically linked with Damara, as well as Horuss at the same time (albeit in secret). Finally, Rufioh broke off his matespritship with Damara, who eventually turned to tormenting him. Rufioh mentions to Meenah one instance in his matespritship with Damara where she left him unable to walk or move, and was so injured that Horuss had to build him a temporary mechanical body shaped like a horse - something Equius Zahhak wanted to do for Tavros.[3] Rufioh's return to his organic body involved Horuss kissing his living head, “probably stand1ng on some mounta1n”[4], prefiguring Dirk Strider's revival of the Page of Hope Jake English; the sending of Rufioh's robot body piece by piece[citation needed] also mirroring Dirk's delivery of the Brobot.
During his team's session of the game, he did not ascend to god tier, finding the prospect of killing himself too heavy to face.
Despite his own admitted lack of bravery, Aranea describes him as the most romantically successful of their team (another similarity to Jake, and an antithesis to Cronus Ampora) and also the most liked of their team (an anti-Aranea). Meenah even goes as far as to say he was the only one who was “ever even close to being cool.” She went on to say:
- “His mutation made him an outcast, though. To avoid the unwanted attention his wings would 8ring him, he took refuge in the forest among those who welcomed his differences, and learned their ways.
The Lost Weea8oos was a guild of youthful tree-dwelling troll otakus with zeal for fisticuffs, flight, and various forms of exotic eastern theater. 8ane to the enemies of hijinks, scourge to the seafaring classes who...” - “NOP-E
NOT LISFININ TO T)(IS LA LA LA GLUB GLUB GLUB” - “centuries of feuding with the Kemonomimi tri8es”
- “(GLU8 GLU8 GLU8 LA LA LA LA GLU8 GLU8 GLU8)”
- “ceremonial torchlight yaoi festivals”
- “(LA LA LA LA GLU8 GLU8 LA LA LA)”
- “tsundere quadrant vacillation”
- “(GLUUUUU8 GLU8GLU8GUL8GLU8 GLUUUUUUUUU8)”
- “threw down a daggerlance to challenge the guild's high seme for dominance”
- “(NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO)”
- “ultimately served like a shonen on Shitsuji Island.”
Personality and traits[]
Rufioh is exceptionally easygoing and friendly. He sometimes uses terms that he knows Kankri Vantas would find offensive, but says that they are merely “regular words” . He seems to enjoy being on good terms with most everyone, enough that he struggles to break up with Horuss because of the reaction he may get. It is noteworthy, however, that he is able to tell Damara that she won't get another chance with him. It is also suggested that he's a pushover of sorts, and has a hard time saying no. He admits to being somewhat cowardly, as he often avoids conflicts of the emotional or physical kind. He can also be selfish, as he had a red relationship with Horuss while being Damara's matesprit, and he also flirts with an Aradiabot while Horuss is nearby.
He enjoys “troll an1me”, card games, and other hobbies of the Lost Weeaboos, the group he joined upon fleeing to the woods.
Relationships[]
Damara Megido and Horuss Zahhak[]
He was in a matespritship with Damara, but she became jealous when Horuss attempted to “mack on h1m” . The two of them had an illicit, secret relationship under Damara's nose, and Horuss began to change some of his views on dating someone lower on the hemospectrum. After ending his relationship with Damara, Rufioh began a formal, on and off matespritship with Horuss, which he tries to end. It can be interpreted that this relationship is emotionally abusive on Horuss' end, in very subtle ways (e.g. not ever letting him get a word in and ignoring the fact that Rufioh tries to break up with him), although it's possible that the perceived abusiveness is simply an unintentional consequence of Rufioh's unassertiveness and Horuss' obliviousness. In Ministrife, Rufioh is seen flirting with Aradiabot, much to Equius' chagrin.
He isn't the best with his romantic partners, as he openly avoids Horuss and flirts with an Aradiabot, and he doesn't put a lot of stock into his cheating affecting Damara's emotional state, indicating some degree of selfish desire on his end. Despite such, both continue to harbor positive feelings towards him and are generally on friendly terms.
Others[]
According to Rufioh, Meenah is the only one of his 11 friends who hadn't made a move on him (as of Openbound).
While speaking to Meenah, Rufioh mentions an “orange guy” attempting to kiss him. This is possibly a reference to a previous scene in act 5 which spoofed Rufio's death in Hook. Andrew Hussie (dressed as Pupa Pan) unsuccessfully attempted to restore Rufio to life by kissing him.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Andrew Hussie. "clues in text suggest they were about 19" Twitter. February 26, 2013. Archived from the original on November 4, 2015.
- ↑ Openbound part 1.
“ARANEA: The Maid of Space was of course our all-important Space player and Stoker of the Forge, 8ut as you know, we never made much progress on the frog 8reeding front, or really any aspect of the game 8efore the reckoning.”
- ↑ Alterniabound. “ I only supplied the technological means, though my lobbying for a hooven quadrupedal lower torso went tragically disregarded">{{{2}}}”
- ↑ Openbound part 3. “RUFIOH: that's l1ke... wow, long story... guess you never heard... 1'll tell you some other t1me, 1t's th1s whole crazy th1ng. but... / RUFIOH: 1 was dead, r1ght? and horuss k1ssed me back to l1fe... but just my head 1 th1nk... he was probably stand1ng on some mounta1n str1k1ng a pose l1ke a f***1ng gangsta, probably f1ght1ng a hoofbeast w1th a flam1ng mane and all...#hope someone pa1nted that sh*t... #1nstant masterp1ece”
