ruggie bucchi is one of the few characters in nrc who didn’t just grow up with less, but he grew up with nothing
and that changes everything about how he sees the world
he wasn’t raised with stability, or comfort, or even the guarantee of his next meal. his mother died early, his father disappeared, and from that point on it was just him and his grandma trying to get by in the slums of sunset savanna, no safety net, no excess, no room to be careless
so he learned early that if he wanted something, he had to take it, earn it, or bargain for it
and that mindset never left him
people like to call ruggie greedy or opportunistic like it’s some quirky red flag, but it’s not, it’s a sign of how hard he needs to fight for survival
when you grow up not knowing if you’ll eat, food stops being casual. it becomes something you hold onto. something you don’t waste, something you take when it’s there because you don’t know when it’ll be there again
that’s why he eats the way he does
that’s why he takes leftovers
that’s why he never lets an opportunity pass him by
because passing it by might mean losing something he actually needs
even his skillset reflects this
cooking, sewing, cleaning, bargaining, working multiple jobs. none of that is random. it’s what happens when you don’t have the luxury to specialize
you survive however you can
because when you start with nothing, ambition isn’t optional
one of the most important things about ruggie is how he views relationships
to him, everything is transactional
not because he’s heartless, but because that’s how the world has always worked for him
you give something, you get something
you help someone, there’s a benefit
you don’t do things ‘just because’
so when someone offers him kindness without expecting anything back, it throws him off; he doesn’t trust it
because in his experience, there’s always a catch
and if you don’t see it, it just means you haven’t found it yet
that’s why he’ll help people and then immediately attach a price to it. not even always because he wants to exploit them, but because that’s what makes sense to him
it makes the interaction predictable; safe; understandable
ruggie being surrounded by wealthy students at nrc is a constant reminder of the gap between him and everyone else
these are people who have never had to think about the things he’s had to think about and do his entire life
and some of them don’t even realize it
so obviously, he doesn’t like spoiled rich kids
not just because they’re annoying, but because they represent a world he’s never been allowed to live in
a world where you can relax without worrying about survival
a world where kindness isn’t suspicious
and the frustrating part? he doesn’t even want to be like them
he says himself he wouldn’t trade his life for being some pampered brat
because his mindset is completely different
he’s used to fighting for everything
and there’s a pride in that, even if it came from hardship
ruggie’s relationship with leona is one of the most interesting dynamics in the game
on paper, they couldn’t be more different— a prince and a boy from the slums
but in reality, they’re both at the bottom of their own hierarchies
leona, the second prince who was never meant to be king
ruggie, a male hyena at the bottom of the social structure
they both started with something to prove
the difference is that ruggie never stopped trying
where leona gave up, ruggie kept going
he adapted, worked, pushed forward no matter what
in a lot of ways, ruggie is what leona could have been if he hadn’t lost the motivation to keep fighting
and despite how transactional ruggie acts, there are moments that show he does care
he brings food back home for others
he helps when he doesn’t strictly have to
he even uses his magic to make leona smile after everything, despite being injured himself
he just doesn’t frame it as kindness
because that’s not how he’s learned to understand it
it’s easy to look at ruggie and call him selfish
but that selfishness didn’t come from nowhere
it came from a life where if he didn’t look out for himself, no one else would
he had to be resourceful and cautious and had to think ahead
because that’s what kept him alive
ruggie isn’t greedy for the sake of it
he’s someone who learned that the world doesn’t give freely
so he makes sure he never walks away empty-handed
and even then, there’s still a part of him that cares more than he lets on
he just doesn’t know how to exist in a world where that care doesn’t come with a cost
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