this sounds more aggressive than i intended but it’s more like
what you have to understand is that xfi (at least the parts that don’t just present him as an unflattering caricature of himself) is like, largely set in one of the lowest points in his life. like, right in the middle of a big ol’ depressive episode. he’s not himself. you can see flashes of that in the moments where he gets angry, when he defends himself, when he reminisces about something he’s lost, but other than that it’s just… i dunno
but if you’re really looking for what defines him as a character, it’s pretty much all in x-force. that’s where you’ve got to go if you want to see him happy, or proud of himself, or hopeful. if you want to know about his relationship with ‘star, that’s all in there too - they loved each other, they looked after each other, they were friends who did everything together. you don’t get that in xfi. what you get in xfi is a bunch of cheap homophobic jokes and stupid straight person love triangle bullshit that never should’ve won a glaad award and certainly shouldn’t be praised to this day as some kind of pinnacle of representation. it sucked. pad wrote them like they hated each other, when they really don’t.
but here are some things about rictor: he’s strongly, fiercely proud of himself. even when he has his doubts or low moments, he knows who he is and where he’s from and he’s not ashamed of it. he’s independent, and sometimes it takes a while to earn his trust, but he loves his friends and he loves shatterstar.
he’s not only a powerful mutant, he’s also a capable tactician and team leader, and most of all he’s a survivor. he has a complex relationship with his family and a strong sense of right and wrong, and he desperately wants to redeem himself, to prove he’s a good person and that he can choose his own path, regardless of how he grew up or what people assume of him.
he’s smart - good with computers, good with mechanical stuff, academically and emotionally intelligent in a way he doesn’t usually show off. when he was a kid all he wanted to do was read books (this is a thing he says in canon, pretty much word for word); he didn’t choose his powers, didn’t choose to be a mutant or an x-man, but he rose to that challenge and learned to love that about himself anyway. his scenes in x-force are often full of internal debate about his own philosophy - he hates violence, and questions every order cable gives the team, and a large part of his character arc is about wanting to be better (morally) than his father and the father-figures that followed. he actively questions what masculinity means to him, but struggles with his own self-image in the face of it. despite all that he’s a mutant who cares strongly about his community, and understands in the end that sometimes you have to fight to defend yourself.
he’s more “fun” than most people give him credit for - if you’ve only seen him in xfi you might not know that he’s really fashion-forward, that he puts a lot of care into his appearance and that you can basically judge his confidence and mood at the time on what he’s wearing. he’s been seen going out dancing with his teammates. like shatterstar, he watches a lot of tv - throughout the series they’re shown marathoning reality tv, playing video games, and listening to music on mtv (he and ‘star were particularly fond of yo! mtv raps, and are confirmed fans of the beastie boys).
i could honestly go on forever about all this stuff, and he and ‘star as a couple deserve a whole separate post tbh, but this is already embarrassing so like… idk
anyway i’m like… i’m not saying that there’s not important stuff about him in xfi, but reading that is like meeting him on a bad day - there’s just so much more to him and since i’m really into him as a character (not sure if you’ve noticed) i wish more people could see that.
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