Rufus Reginald Rochester

Rufus Reginald Rochester is a lead character in Daniel Kravitz, Chosen One, a segment of It's All Been Done Radio Hour. He is the head of research for the new U.L.P., having served as a mentor to four Chosen Ones under the old regime. He is practical and smart, as well as brave, and good at research. He has also studied various magics and potions. However, he has let his love for others blind him at times, and loneliness causes him to act in destructive ways.
Rufus has hazel eyes ("Get Out"). He wears glasses, is somewhere around fifty years old at the start of the series ("Gather 'Round the Fire"), and has greying temples ("Childish Thing"). He is technologically phobic, owning neither a computer nor smartphone as the series begins ("Wanda's Wand") and knowing nothing about video games ("Ready Player Chosen One"). He is not very adept at using The Oracle ("Cult of B.O.B."). Rufus speaks six to seven languages "on a good day" ("A Rufus Carol"). Although bookish, he can hold his own in combat with great foes ("Team Work"). He can also use specifically prepared magic in battle situations, even against powerful foes, though it takes him awhile to enact even the simplest of spells ("A Family Affair"). He did manage to control some magic that was similar to satellite technology, allowing him to surveil an area ("Jant Braidley").
Rufus once told Daniel Kravitz to never go looking for secret passageways, as what you found down them would usually be worse than whatever you were facing ("Cave of Wonders").
First appearance: Daniel Kravitz, Chosen One #1.01 "Not Bored for Long"
Total appearances: 37 (out of 44, as of Volume 3)
Actor: Shane Stefanchik; Grant Dine ("Young Rufus")
=== Episodes Not In ===
Rufus has been a leader character from the first episode of the series. He did not appear in the following episodes:
* #2.02 "The Hub"
* #2.03 "Blumpkin & Felchy"
* #2.04 "The Search"
* #2.05 "Desperate Times"
* #3.04 "...And Sprinkles on Top"
* #3.10 "Conspiracy Theories"
* #3.13 "Daniel Kravitz of Antique Shop vs. Geralt of Rivia
Rufus appeared only in the opening of the following episodes:
* #2.07 "Punch"
== Ragina ==
Rufus' last surviving relative is Ragina, his niece, daughter of his departed sister ("Ragina"). He took custody of her when she was a teenager, and kept his work secret from her, not wanting her to know of the supernatural. He led her to believe he studied history as a research associate at Oxford.
By the time Ragina was a young adult, they barely saw one another. Even when she had lived with Rufus, he was never home, and once she moved out, they would go weeks at a time without speaking. Rufus left Ragina to be a mentor for the U.L.P., a decision he was torn about at the time, and later deeply regretted, especially as her independence led her into things he'd rather she not be involved in. He had vowed that he would reconnect with her once he settled into being a mentor, and take a leave of absence after that to spend more time with her, but this did not happen ("Gather 'Round the Fire").
Rufus knows who Ragina's father is and regards him well ("A Family Affair").
Ragina arrived in town not long after Rufus became Daniel Kravitz's mentor, and Rufus was thrilled to have her back. Unfortunately, it turned out that Ragina had gotten into magics herself and now served the Ultimate Evil, which she insisted was not actually evil. Ragina attempted to persuade Rufus, Daniel, and the others to help her take down the U.L.P., but they refused. Rufus was unable to hurt Ragina, and she escaped ("A Family Affair").
Ragina later returned after Rufus learned of the U.L.P.'s corruption to assist in the fight against the organization ("The Safe House"). He wanted very much to trust her now that her claims about the U.L.P. had proven true, but the rest of the group was more reluctant. They did bond a bit, admitting they were the only family one another had, and Ragina said she'd mourn Rufus if he died, so asked him not to force her to kill him ("On a Boat"). While her goals aligned with Rufus', her methods did not and she tried to kill a lot of people, including Rufus as collateral damage ("Pit of Despair").
Rufus' niece is still out in the world somewhere, and he holds out hope that someday they might reconcile.
== Academic ==
At the age of fourteen, Rufus was already aware of the U.L.P. and determined to join their ranks. He saw himself as having no peers his own age, and knew he was better than other kids, especially the slackers.
An incident occurred that year in which Rufus accepted power from the demon Bjardo when senior bullies threatened his older sister, Rosalyn Rogers Rochester. Rufus hurt the bullies, and then shocked by what he had done, destroyed Bjardo, costing him his power. Rufus' fate, given to Bjardo in trade for the power, was put into a crystal, which Rufus ended up possessing. Bjardo called Rufus' fate "delicious." The incident attracted the U.L.P.'s attention and Rufus asked to join ("Young Rufus").
Rufus considered himself to be an academic at heart, having enjoyed his schooling, and joined the U.L.P. with that in mind. He assisted with research and helped find Chosen Ones, as well as did much of the organizational work for the society, including ranking potential mentors ("Gather 'Round the Fire"). He studied the Ultimate Evil for decades, and thought the amount of death it was responsible for was beyond comprehension ("On a Boat").
In service to his study, Rufus collected lots of books, keeping them all over every room of his apartment. One such book was known to be titled Irish Mystical Arts 1092-1347. He had difficulty locating it when heading out to be a mentor, but it is unknown if he found it or what its significance was ("Gather 'Round the Fire").
At some point, Rufus did get involved in some dangerous activities. He saved the life of Henri Longbottom twice (and Henri saved Rufus once) ("They're Back!").
Although he had some basic skills, Rufus had mostly given up building upon the little magic he knew while a sorcerer was among the group. However, after Josh Wallace's death, Rufus studied it again ("On a Boat"). He stopped once more when a new sorcerer, Alfredo, joined them.
Rufus knows a lot about mythology, including about the Thunderbird even before he knew there was a totem for it on the U.L.P. ranch in Kalispell, Montana. But he has limitations to his beliefs, stating firmly that there is no literal heaven ("Recall Me, Maybe").
== U.L.P. Mentor==
In late 2013, Rufus was voted to become a mentor for the U.L.P. despite being, in his own estimation, the twenty-seventh most qualified out of thirty-one members. He was reluctant to take on this role, believing himself to be more the academic sort, but eventually agreed with the confidence of the organization's leadership behind him ("Gather 'Round the Fire").
=== Matt Alborough ===
Rufus’ first assigned Chosen One was Matt, a twenty-two-year-old in South Africa. Rufus was nervous to be out doing fieldwork, but Matt was naturally warm and without friends when tapped, having recently moved, and so Rufus filled that hole for him. Rufus even dared imagine that Matt might make a good match for Ragina, whom he worried about leaving alone, and thought they might form a nice family.
Unfortunately, Rufus let the friendship get in the way of training, and didn't properly prepare Matt. Only a few months after Rufus arrived, Matt faced Lazar, a hulking dinosaur of a creature, who easily killed him. Rufus had tried to convince Matt to run and hide, but Matt refused to abandon duty or let Rufus down.
Rufus knew he couldn't match Lazar in physical combat, and fled himself. He would be deeply ashamed of his actions and bothers by Matt's fate for years to come.
=== Fu Miu ===
After a few months back at the U.L.P., during which Rufus sequestered himself away from his fellows, and endured the most scorn from Alexis, who was still sore about Rufus being picked over him to be mentor, Rufus was sent to his next assignment in Macau.
Miu, then twenty-seven, did not take well to Rufus showing up, her upbringing having taught her to hate men. He also wasn’t in any place to be warm towards her, so spent months just hanging around and arguing, chasing her down when she tried to move around the city.
Luckily, Rufus had also been physically training for physical combat in secret. He was determined not to repeat his mistake with Matt, and thus when Miu was corned in an alley by a particularly hideous baddie, sort of an upright centipede with the face of a dragon, Rufus was able to come to her defense and save her. When he asked nothing in return, and refused to take sex as payment, she grew to have respect for him and begrudgingly began training with him.
Together, they became relatively formidable, but Rufus made sure to keep things purely professional, never to befriend her. He didn’t ask what she did in her off-time, and she never offered. They stopped a number of foes and did their jobs, but that was it. He was probably the best Mentor the U.L.P. had seen in quite a while, and Miu outlived most Chosen Ones.
Unfortunately, Miu discovered that Rufus had taken up with a monster named Sheila. Trust shattered, she ran away to Monaco. It took Rufus months to track her down, and when he finally did, she was dying after having barely won a fight with a manticore. He tried to apologize on her death bed, but she would not accept it and she passed away, never having forgiven him.
Following this second failure, Rufus took another extended stay at U.L.P. headquarters, again hidden away from his fellows.
=== Chandler Leclerc ===
It wasn’t easy to convince Rufus he needed to go be a mentor again, and Alexis was extremely upset that Rufus was being given yet another chance. But eventually, the next Chosen One was found and Rufus was persuaded to go to him in France.
Chandler was a bookworm and pacifist who kept to himself as much as possible. Rufus wondered if Chandler being chosen was a mistake, and even contacted the U.L.P. for confirmation, but Chandler was, indeed, the next Chosen One. Rufus tried to approach him to fill him in on his history, but Chandler was frightened and attempted to get away several times. After a couple of days, Rufus cornered him and made him learn the truth.
Needless to say, training did not go well. There was enough of a spark to convince Rufus that Chandler was the correct Chosen One, but Chandler never got over his fears, believing himself to be not worthy, and sure he had done something to piss God off and this was his punishment.
Chandler’s first major confrontation was with a sentient piece of toast with a mustache and beret, a relatively minor monster, as such things go. Still, Chandler could not bring himself to truly fight back, and was killed by the toast. It took Rufus less than thirty seconds to kill the toast in return.
=== Daniel Kravitz ===
Rufus' fourth Chosen One was Daniel Kravitz, an American antique store owner, who Rufus went to in the summer of 2015. While Daniel resisted Rufus as much as the others had, Daniel had something they did not: a best friend. Through Abby's urging, Daniel not only accepted Rufus, but built a group who could fight the evil beings together.
Daniel's first foe was a worm creature with teeth and pincers of a type Rufus had never seen before and knew nothing about ("Get Out").
After Rufus' niece, Ragina, was revealed to be working for the Ultimate Evil, Rufus fled, giving up his spot as Daniel's mentor and resigning from the U.L.P. It is unknown where Rufus was for the first few months after the fight, but a few weeks before Christmas, he moved in with his monster ex-girlfriend, Sheila (see below; "Gather 'Round the Fire"). Before the end of the year, Rufus left Sheila's and bounced around many places for more than five months, looking for Ragina with the hopes of saving her ("They're Back!")
It is unknown if Rufus followed all the U.L.P. rules prior to working with Daniel, but he did bend many of them for his fourth Chosen One. The most serious was when Rufus left Abby Reynolds out of his reports because he knew his superiors would frown upon Daniel being involved with anyone ("The Hub").
== Post-Mentor ==
After searching in vain for Ragina for several months (although Ragina later told him he came close a couple of times ("On a Boat"), Rufus learned that the U.L.P., or at least its leadership, had gone rotten and needed to be taken down. In fact, they'd tried to kill Rufus repeatedly, although he didn't see the pattern until later ("They're Back!"). Rufus returned to Brightside to get Alexis Augustus Armentrout's help in accessing U.L.P. records and recruited Daniel and the others to help ("Betrayed").
Even after leaving the U.L.P., Rufus still believed in the organization, and (wrongly) thought most members were innocent. He supported Alexis Augustus Armentrout when many thought the younger man might be corrupt, too. Rufus also made it his goal to rebuild a new U.L.P. that served the values Rufus believed to be core to the group's mission, especially after they sent the ghosts of his former Chosen Ones to try to force him to commit suicide ("A Rufus Carol"). When Josh Wallace was murdered, Rufus did temporarily speak of murdering the leadership ("The Safe House"). But once he calmed down, he sought a diplomatic solution first, hoping to talk them into resigning ("On a Boat').
Rufus was instrumental in taking down the U.L.P., his former employer ("Into the Darkness; Pit of Despair"). 
== The New U.L.P. ==
Rufus stayed on to help rebuild the U.L.P., serving as a researcher, organizer of texts, member of the Ruling Council, and teacher to the new recruits, including combat lessons. Rufus saw his role as keeping the group from moving too fast, trying to keep them in the shadows until they were ready to face the public and not wanting to digitize the ancient texts ("The New Class"). It was Rufus that suggested Abby Reynolds be in charge of the group ("Words You Don't Want to Hear").
Rufus enjoyed working with the students. He challenged them, having them fight Grezit the Green, but also protected them, instructing Grezit to pull his punches. Please with how seriously the new trainees took their studies, he'd even give them extra breaks when they did well, something he was never able to do with Daniel ("Recall Me, Maybe").
Despite past connections, Rufus put his trust in working with Calleth Penrose on the ranch, bringing him in to further the protections on the property. He felt a good deal safer once Calleth had done his work, meaning Rufus is open to mystical things even he doesn't understand, trusting others in their skillset ("Recall Me, Maybe").
Sometimes Rufus was left behind to research ("Jant Braidley"), but he still did a fair amount of fieldwork, including helping stop a person who exacerbated a zombie apocalypse by opening up portals to transport the undead to multiple cities (Packer & Ratcliff "The Pursuit of Packer").
Rufus was the first one of the original group to really notice Abby Reynolds changing, and not for the better. He tried to bring it up to Daniel, but Daniel didn't want to see it ("Cave of Wonders"). Rufus then went to Grezit, but Grezit was too loyal to Abby to listen to Rufus, and when Daniel overheard this, Rufus fell out of favor with the Chosen One, and Daniel started having Grezit keep an eye on Rufus ("Words You Don't Want to Hear"). Abby eventually confronted Rufus about this behavior. He apologized and she accepted ("A Chosen One Walks Into a Bar").
Rufus attempted to obtain a protection item from a shady dealer named Marta, but was fooled into a trap. He was injured in the fight, his shoulder impaled with a talon, but victorious, and kept a show of confidence the entire time. Rufus didn't pursue Marta as she fled, saying they don't always need to kill, but approved of Grezit slaying E'Kjo ("Maneuvers").
When Kai Akane was revealed to be a mole and disappeared, Rufus wanted to reserve judgment until they figured out what he had been up to ("A Chosen One Walks Into a Bar"). He was deeply disappointed to learn Kai worked for Ragina, although admitted that made sense ("Ready Player Chosen One").
After fighting his way through a video game trap, Rufus joins the fight against Monbo's army with his fellows. When he spots a Thunderbird, Rufus says it protects the ranch and theorizes his fellow Mortimer Miles McClendon released it, though doesn't have any proof, nor an explanation as to why Mortimer hid among them as Josh. Rufus is impressed by Alfredo's magic skills in recreating even temporary Chosen One powers. Rufus talks back to Monbo when she halts the fighting and chastises Daniel. But he also calls it a mistake when Abby murders Monbo.
When Daniels falls in battle, Rufus rushes to his side, right behind Abby, both saddened to see him die. The next day, Rufus gives Abby a status report of the group, and mentions he turned down Alexis' request for help in the Subworlds, saying they need to rebuild the U.L.P. first. Abby tells him to get the fuck out of her office ("With Great Power...").
== Romance ==
While serving as mentor to Miu Fu, his second Chosen One, Rufus met Sheila, a monster. Sheila took an interest in him, and Rufus was feeling just isolated and drunk enough to accept the interest. They engaged in a mutually destructive romance that Rufus wanted out of, but couldn't escape per threat of bodily harm.
Luckily, Sheila's young children ate their timid gnome father that she’d left them in the care of in America, and she had to return to them. She did not insist that Rufus accompany her home, and thus he was finally free of her.
While serving as mentor to Daniel Kravitz, Rufus met a furniture store owner named Nan. They began dating in secret. Rufus finally worked up the courage to introduce her to Daniel and Abby, but it was at that moment that things got bad with Ragina. Following his niece attacking, Rufus went back to Sheila.
Rufus stayed with Sheila for a while, wallowing in darkness. Eventually, though, he escaped in the night ("Gather 'Round the Fire").
== Substitute Performer ==
Shane was not available to play Rufus in a re-run of "Get Out" at the Columbus Podcast Festival in 2018. He had been at the show, but left early to perform in another show. Joe Morales played Rufus in that episode.